


Indomitable Force

by HorseTechie



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: And trauma... oh my!, Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Martial Arts, Mentions of Marvel Superheroes, Multi, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Psionics, Robots, So many confessions... poor Hiro is such an emotional mess, Team Feels, Training Fails, Undercover Missions, bot fights
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 23:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 101,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16027919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HorseTechie/pseuds/HorseTechie
Summary: Life is short, and so is Hiro. But he doesn't let this stop him as he learns his new role with his new team and adjusts to his first semester at SFIT. Needless to say, Hiro still struggles with the trauma of past events and the secrets he hides. He also learns what makes the bonds of friendship stronger than steel. (Originally started back in Jan. 2015 - then went on hiatus. Decided to revive it and finish up the story!)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimers – This story, of course is property of Disney/Marvel, and I claim no ownership to the characters and story therein.

" _There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself."_ _―_ _Miyamoto Musashi_ _, "The Book of Five Rings"_

* * *

Hiro knocked on the door of the very assuming mansion, and hardly had to wait for the response. He must have been the first of the team to arrive this time, since it was an excited Fred who opened the door, rather than Heathcliff. Every Thursday, about this time in the morning, his teammates would meet at Fred's for a hero training session.

"Hey! How's it go, my friend?" Fred clapped his hand across Hiro's red hardcase backpack to welcome him inside. The lanky fanboy was not dressed in his monster suit just yet though.

"Totally chill, buddy," Hiro gave him the customary Fred response. Once reaching Fred's bedroom quarters, Hiro set down his skateboard to take off Baymax in backback form.

While Hiro did alter the design specifics on the robotic backpack enough so he could stay out of hot water with Stark Industries, the idea of redesigning the armor for Baymax in backpack mode did help solve the problem of how to transport both Baymax and the armor when the big guy wasn't wearing it. Not that he didn't mind having Baymax shadowing him during his morning classes before they came here for training, it was just kind of awkward when the billowy robot would go to the aid of any student that accidentally banged their knee on the desk, or got a papercut. Of course, just leaving Baymax at the Nerd Lab took longer than necessary to go back and get him before heading out. But really, he just needed an excuse to make a new and improved portable case for Baymax.

Using a combination of magnets and interlocking systems, the armor had become most of the shell of the new case. He was still working out the research on mass displacement mechanics for transformation combined with rocket science to perfect making everything more compact and yet still functional. All of these details that otherwise left his professors almost speechless as they tried to follow along with what he was proposing. So at the time being, he still had to manually fit some of the parts, like the rocket fists, until he had the rest figured out. Once this all worked out, he wanted to do something similar for their own supersuits.

"Baymax, suit up!" Hiro tapped on the red shell to alert him.

Fred fidgeted in the other chair he was sitting in, rubbing his hands in anticipation. "Wow... It never fails to amaze me every time I see this!"

"Thinking about making our suits pack up like that too," Hiro shrugged. Everything was still in beta phase, and clearly could be way better. He never stopped thinking of how ti make it better. The young genius waited to manually piece on the rest of the armor for Baymax's arms and shoulders. On the flip side, since Baymax was inflating while the pieces were assembling, it wasn't as hard to snap together. Baymax at least was also catching on to the process so that he could put on the rest of the armor himself.

"Hello Hiro. Hello Fred." Baymax greeted them, waving with his white hand visibly sticking out of the red arm without a rocket fist, which meant he missed a part.

"Forgot something," Hiro whispered and pointed to the arm piece still on the floor behind him.

"Looking good, robot buddy," Fred was lounging back in his chair and gave Baymax a thumbs up, regardless.

Hiro quickly changed out of his cargos to pull his armored pants on over his black compression shorts, and proceeded patching together the rest of his blue armored gear. Then something waifted his way, however, permeating the air and otherwise making it just a little hard to concentrate.

Hiro finally groaned, quickly putting on his helmet to block out the smell before he was able to get his gloves on. "What the...? Freddie!"

Fred just feigned innocence, his telltale grin more than confessing his crime. "Wasn't me, little buddy," and then he picked up the head part of his suit that was still laying next to him. He patted the head of his monster like it was his favoritest pet in the world.

"I looove my Kaiju, but sometimes he drives me crazy. Why? Because he just loves to fart. Small farts.. medium farts, and also...  _deadly_  farts. But sometimes, they are smelly too. Have you ever smelled a  _really_  smelly Kaiju fart?" The fanboy asked him, quite matter of factly.

"Uhm, no.." Hiro just stared at him, deciding now that the triple shot espresso cappuccinos he and Fred concocted that morning at the Lucky Cat, complete with an inch thick of caramel syrup at the bottom, had now come back and haunt him. The next thing he knew, Hiro was buckled over on the floor, beside himself with laughter.

Baymax had no words for this extremely absurd boyish behavior. What he did observe was how their endorphin levels were skyrocketing, assisted by the unfavorable amounts of caffeine and glucose. But the rather noticable levels of methane in the air, without a doubt, had prompted him to say something.

"It is advisable to not use anything flammable in this room until the methane levels go down," the large red robot warned them.

That statement resulted in yet another round of hysterical laughter from the two.

"Oh man, yes! That is Kaiju's super secret weapon: Flatulent Flames of Fire!" Leaving his monster suit behind, Fred jumped up in great theatrics to pretend like he was spraying flames of spitfire across the room.

Hiro pulled his helmet off now, braving the air quality again just because he was getting flushed inside the helmet. The teen flopped on his back, spread eagle on the floor, trying to catch his breath in between his bouts of laughter. His sides practically hurt from laughing so hard, and it occurred to him it was a long time since he laughed like that. Maybe that was why he got along so well with their resident man-child. Fred's unusually optimistic view of the world was so infectious.

"I fail to understand how flatulence creates the desire to laugh." Baymax spoke, now that the two wore themselves out.

"I dunno... it just is," Hiro sat up to wipe the remainder of the tears from his face.

"Because manly men just love singing with their assholes!" Fred shot a finger in the air, and totally referancing Monty Python now.

"Nyrgh..." the younger Hamada groaned. This was absolutely getting ridiculous./p>

"Yes way," the knightly Fredrickson tried to look most sincere, while gesturing to Baymax. "It is thy red wonder who keeps making the funnies."

"I am?" Baymax blinked. "I do not know what is funny."

"Maybe I can teach you," Hiro rubbed his face, regaining his composure. "After all, laughter is medicine."

"That is true. Both of your neurotransmitter levels are very positive right now."

"We can teach him some jokes!" Fred suggested, sitting back down in his chair.

"Yeah, okay." Hiro stood up, running his hand through his hair in thought. "So like jokes are like a play on words, or they make fun of stuff. Like... what do you get when you cross a vampire with a snowman?"

Baymax just blinked, confused.

"Frostbite!" Hiro answered, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "And then you are supposed to laugh, if you thought it sounded funny."

"No, no...man, you need a  _good_  joke," the fanboy leaned in, his elbows on his knees. After a moments thought, he began, "Knock, knock."

"Um, who's there?" he answered in kind.

"Up dog."

Hiro rose an eyebrow, and then finally had to ask, even if it meant breaking the flow of the joke, "What's 'up dog'?"

"Haaa! Gotcha!" Fred smired while pointing both of his fingers at him.

"Urgh... really?" Hiro facepalmed, now realizing the joke.

"Hiro is not laughing," Baymax observed. "But he does appear surprised."

"That's part of the joke! It's so unexpected, it makes you think 'How clever! That's funny!'" Fred explained.

"Exactly..."

Once again, Fred paused long enough for the others to take notice, then looked in the direction of his dresser and a table by the wall. "Oh hey, what's under there?"

Baymax turned, not sure where he was pointing. "Under where?"

This time Hiro was quick in catching onto Fred's next joke, and facepalmed,  _again._

Baymax blinked, tilting his head."That was the joke?"

"What you said sounds like 'underwear'," Hiro pulled down the top part of his pants to reveal the elastic of his underwear.

"Underwear is also funny?" This was very likely causing Baymax more confusion than clarity at the moment.

"It's the play on the words, that's what makes it funny!" Fred reasoned, talking with his hands for emphasis.

"I see," Baymax paused for a moment. Then a strange rumbling noise was heard from the robot, followed with "Bha- bha- ha!"

Fred's contained mirth broke out with more laughter. "Hee... are you laughing, good buddy?"

"I think so," Hiro just shook his head and feigned a smile over this.

"Was it a good laugh?" Baymax tilted his head, doing his best to understand this.

"Uhm, could use more work to sound a little more natural, but yeah.. good start, Baymax," the youngest cleared his throat, noticing his voice cutting out again. That happened sporatically, but it was so annoying when it did.

"This is great," Fred mused. "I think we should try this joke on the next person who gets here."

"Like a dare?"

"Yes!" Fred nodded. "Have Baymax ask 'What's under there?' Because they will never suspect it from him."

Hiro smirked, not really seeing a problem with that. He liked little challenges if no harm was involved.

"What if it is GoGo?" Baymax felt this really was not that wise of an idea, due to previous instances. "I have concerns for your safety."

"Pray that she doesn't come in first?" Hiro refuted, weakly.

Fred cleared his throat, then took a step closer to Hiro to whisper. "I don't think she wears underwear-"

"Oh no,  _shut up_!" Hiro turned away from him, suddenly wishing to not go there. Just because.

"You have much to learn, little grasshopper," Fred laughed, slapping Hiro's shoulder.

Healthcliff paged Fred, letting him know two guests have arrived.

"I am still asking this question, regardless of who?" Baymax tilted his head.

"Absolutey!" Hiro said, before he started to think twice about it.

They had heard Wasabi, but it was GoGo who was first through the door. The two were also fully dressed in their suits and otherwise ready to begin (unlike Fred and Hiro).

"Hey," GoGo greeted, setting a bag that held her helmet and disks on the couch.

"Sorry about the delay," Wasabi explained. He had made a subtle face, noticing an awkward smell about the room. Well, it was Fred and that was often expected. "Honey Lemon had a hang up in the lab. Something exploded and she needed to clean it up. We helped where we could."

"Nice," Hiro frowned.

"She'll catch up later," GoGo popped her gum.

Then there was that pause, followed with Baymax acting like he was clearing his throat. "Wait, what is under there?" He pointed his white finger in the random direction of the furniture that Fred had gestured at earlier.

"Under .. what? Where?" GoGo actually bent down, looking below the dresser.

"See, no panty lines," Fred whispered to Hiro.

 _"Fred-_  no!" Hiro squeaked as he stepped away from him in denial. Even though GoGo didn't say the answer they hoped for, it suddenly felt that the joke was now on him. His face turned a hot red when the speedster turned to glare at the two. There was no hiding the truth as to what just happened that time.

"Say  _what_  now?" GoGo took off her helmet and stuck her gum on it, before setting the helmet on top of her bag.

"Uh, I.. I can explain," Hiro made the mistake of taking a step back, looking even more vulnerable.

"And this is where I say  _'sayonara'!"_  Fred nervously side stepped away from the two. He made a break for it, and GoGo promptly took chase after him. They all had their weaknesses, and unfortunately for GoGo, it was her short temper.

In two steps, the parkour champion tackled Fred to the floor, causing him to faceplant. "What did I tell you about  _that_  kind of stuff?"

"It's okay, GoGo! We were just trying to teach Baymax what jokes were," the younger Hamada called out to her, hoping that would redirect the blame.

"Really?" the speed queen got off of Fred to look at Hiro.

"Ugh... yeah, that's all we were doing," Fred stood up from the floor next, dusting himself off.

Gogo just shook her head and crossed her arms, giving both of them The Look.

"What just happened?" Honey Lemon finally spoke up. She and Heathcliff came in right after GoGo brought Fred down to the floor. It was also apparent Fred, Hiro, and Baymax weren't even fully dressed and ready, so she doubted the training had started.

Wasabi shook his head, his arms crossed and his hand massaging his brow.. "You're better off not knowing."

"C'mere," GoGo walked over to the fanboy and pulled him over to Hiro. "Both of you, fifty pushups!"

Hiro automatically knew this was her method of getting back at them for being idiots.

"No girly ones either. Knees up, nose to the ground! _"_

"Right," Hiro responded through clenched teeth while he got down into position. 

"She's not serious, is she?" Fred whispered, within Hiro's earshot. GoGo usually did this to tease them, and would tell them to stop after ten or so.

"At least they aren't burpees..." he muttered, pausing on the up stroke. He still felt like a T-rex trying to do push-ups. The young genius had gotten a lot stronger than before they started the hero training, but he was nothing yet like Wasabi, or even his brother. Hiro held himself in the up position for a moment again, his arms shaking.  _Only twenty five down... and...man, she wasn't giving in yet. Nyrugh..._

"I give. Can't.. get... up.." Fred whimpered after his twenty-second one, exhaling ever so loudly like he just died.

"Aw Freddie! You can do it!" Honey encouraged him. "Both of you are doing great!"

"Come on, Fred. You're tougher than that!" GoGo groaned, walking over to lift him up by his belt to make it easier.

"Oh.. great. Thanks!" he rose back up more easily, unashamed of his awkward position.

"You're just a big baby..." she grumbled, still holding him up.

Hiro rose back up on his own, before they helped him like that... because he didn't want it. He gritted his teeth, counting out loud each time he lowered. His arms gave out again, but he forced himself back up, yelling to psyche himself up. He always wanted to be stronger, not a whimp, and this was the only way to do it. Exercise, his least favorite. But the younger Hamada had to prove how much stronger he was getting. Impressing GoGo was just half of it.

"Ugh, I'm _not_ holding you up, Fred," Gogo let go of Fred's belt, dropping him to the floor when he started milking her assistance even more. "Get up, you two..."

After rising up from the floor his last time, Hiro stood up and then faced the short, lady engineer. GoGo returned his heated glare, holding onto it to for a long moment before asking him.

"More focused now, Leader Boy?"

"Crystal," Hiro didn't take his eyes off of hers, thoroughly relishing the fact once more that he had grown just tall enough so that he wasn't literally looking up to her.

"Good," her response dripped with sarcasm. "Let's finish with what's left of this training session."

Hiro exhaled, noticing the relieved looks from the others during that exchange. He turned to give a hand to Fred, and helped him the rest of the way up.

"That was still worth it," Fred tested his luck.

Hiro just rolled his eyes, deciding it better to keep his mouth shut now. Shaking the soreness from his arms, he looked at the clock again and frowned. The time was half over, and his original plan to use the first part to talk about new strategies before trying them wasn't going to happen today. Unless, he just called off physical training for now and just talked 'business'.

"So, okay.. there was some stuff I was going to talk about. A new idea for training," Hiro paced about, appearing a little uneasy now as he improvised on the spot. "It might be better to cancel training today just so I can. Then next Thursday we can do double time."

GoGo just clicked her tongue in disapproval, but she didn't say anything else. Wasabi and Honey went ahead and sat down on the couch. "Yeah, that's fine. What are you thinking about, Hiro?" Honey Lemon asked.

"Well, basically, I've been thinking we need to increase our level when we train." Hiro took their motion as a sign to continue. "Right now, just battling each other, we're getting pretty good at predicting our strengths and weaknesses... Right? Well, to change that up, I've been developing a new program that turns Baymax into a training robot. Now we try to attack him, and try-"

"Wait! Uh-uh... No!" Wasabi immediately resisted the idea.

Hiro had predicted it would have been GoGo who would be first to protest, but she probably was done with him for the day.

"I knew you guys might not like this idea, but it's okay. I tested it through so that Baymax is not gonna hurt us." Hiro was confident that once he was able to explain how it worked, it was really wasn't going to be anything like their first fight with Yokai. He just wanted to add more of that level of unpredictability that kept them on their toes. Some of the things they have going up against lately seemed harder to resolve on the first go.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiro gestured to Baymax again just to reiterate his point about using him as their training robot. "I have his program coded to recognize and respond to our commands, so that he no longer just responds to me. Plus, if anything happens to any of the program chips, I had embedded core programming that adheres to the laws of robotics in his central processor."

Honey Lemon leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "I understand what you are proposing, Hiro, but even if Baymax is controllable as a training robot, what about us? Doesn't it concern you what we would do to him?"

"That's the other part of it," Hiro tapped his finger on the red shell of the regular fist Baymax had taken off. "I want to test the durability strength of this new armor."

"You did test that in the lab first, right?" Wasabi shot Hiro a dubious look. His excessive caution had become his trademark, but more often than not it had saved them from a lot of unnecessary mistakes. "The last thing I want to do is cut Baymax in half!"

"Of course!" Hiro agreed. "I mean, I don't want that either."

"But... there's still that chance." GoGo spoke for the first time since he started this conversation.

Hiro glanced to where the black and yellow speedster was sitting with her legs crossed on the floor by the couch. "Yeah... it's a possibly," he agreed, after some hesitation.

Honey Lemon looked at the boy genius and then Baymax in thought. They have been a superhero team for almost three months, but it had been long enough to know when something was amiss with any of them. "Hiro... What's the real reason?"

"Yeah," Wasabi agreed. "All we've done so far was apprehend shop lifters and stop run-away trolley cars. If we're lucky, a bank robber or two. But it's been hardly anything that merits this level of training!"

GoGo looked up at Hiro that time as well, prompting him with that similar kind of concern written on her face.

Hiro took in a deep breath as he said down on the floor. "Okay, I'm- I've been having bad dreams, almost like premonitions, about stuff… like the portals." He said, looking down at his hands.

"There were  _two_ , weren't there?" Fred suddenly asked. "Or... Did Yokai take what was left of the two to make that one..?"

"That's the thing," Hiro rubbed his face. "My microbots are all in there. And so is the first Baymax, with that  _other_  chip."

 _"No..."_  Fred suddenly had a look of animated horror on his face, knowing exactly where this was heading now.

"Baymax doesn't recall if that other chip was taken out either." Hiro gestured to his re-creation of their healthcare companion.

"Yes, I cannot confirm that action," he agreed.

"But you said this was a  _dream_ ," Wasabi sought to find further reason in this.

"Or a warning..." the young genius sighed. "The cops were clearly all over the collapse of Krei Industries, but it's hard to tell just how far."

"Then who else knows about what happened from that day?" Honey asked. This was not the first time they wondered about that.

"Besides Krei," Wasabi added.

"I don't know," Hiro countered. "But I wonder if we can go back to the island and find out. Cause I doubt the police will just tell us."

"Oh yey!" Fred rubbed his hands together. "Field trip time!"

"I doubt it's going to be as easy as last time," Wasabi advised. "If the cops, or higher authorities, put two and two together, that place is most likely more restricted than before."

"And ninja time!" Fred interjected.

That merited the 'shut up, Fred' look from GoGo this time.

"Which does pose the question as to why that place was quarantined," Hiro thought out loud. "It was the exiting portal that blew up, trapping Callaghan's daughter inside."

"Abigail!" Fred snapped his fingers. "We can ask her!"

 _Mental facepalm_. "Great idea, except that she was  _inside,_  after the portals got damaged." Hiro shook his head.

"True," Fred shrugged. "However, she may know who else was on that project."

"But that other one, I don't remember it getting that much damage in the video." Hiro continued. "Cause it looked a lot worse when we were there."

"Where is she now?" Honey wondered.

"Hiding via the protection agency?" Fred joked, otherwise hinting that he really did not know. The coverage on the news about who she was had been quickly blown over and silenced as well, most likely for the sake of her sanity and security.

"If that really is the case," Wasabi rubbed his temples, "How do we find and contact her without otherwise coming across like stalkers?"

"Scanner?" Hiro finally suggested. "Provided she is still in San Fransokyo."

That still sounded like stalking her, but no onr wanted to confirm it out loud. More silence continued as they thought on other ideas.

"Visit Callaghan in prison, and just ask him?" Honey Lemon suggested. The others seemed to frown at that idea.

"This means we eventually will have to go back to that island... Hopefully the files of the others involved and stuff are still there, unless the FBI or someone else got involved and pulled everything out," Hiro sighed. This was part of the reason he really did not want to talk about this. It sounded very detailed and messy to plan out. "Homework time."

They nodded readily. Hiro glanced at his watch. There was still a little time, but he didn't really have anything else to discuss. "Wanna call it a day?"

"Sure."

"Fine by me," Wasabi stood up.

* * *

After GoGo had changed back into her street clothes in the bathroom, she grew a little more concerned about not seeing Hiro in Fred's bedroom. Hiro often had the habit of leaving early on his own. But as soon as she spotted Baymax in backpack form, she breathed a sigh of relief. He was still there, somewhere. Good, because she wanted to talk with him in private before he left.

Honey Lemon stepped up to her shorter friend, placing a hand on her arm. "Everything going okay?" she asked gently. It was not typical of GoGo to get as mad as she had earlier, and the tall chemistry student also sensed that.

GoGo just shook her head. It was a lot more complicated than what she was in the mood for. "I'll explain later."

"What happened earlier anyway?" Honey just wasn't going to leave it at that.

GoGo sighed, looking up to Honey for a moment. "They tried to prank me. It was when I heard Fred tell Hiro I had 'no panties on' that I lost it."

"He did?" Honey gasped, putting her hands on her face.

GoGo crossed her arms, giving her that cautionary look to not laugh, as she chewed her gum.

"That... Yeah, that wasn't very nice." Honey agreed in kind, for the sake of posterity.

GoGo stared at the floor where Baymax was. "But I'm not chill with how I reacted either," she added quietly. "Just need to talk to him."

"That may help," Honey nodded in agreement.

Their attention was drawn to the door that lead to Fred's super-sized closet as it banged open. Hiro must have tripped by accident as he stepped out while slinging his duffle bag on his shoulder. The speed queen popped her gum as she quickly put her thoughts together.

"Hey," GoGo walked up to him.

Hiro looked over and turned as she faced him.

"I want to talk to you about earlier," GoGo started, a little more composed.

He held his gaze on her for a moment before responding. "I'm sorry, I mean... I didn't expect that Fred would-"

"It's okay, " GoGo interrupted him. "Just remember what's really important."

"Yeah..." Hiro rubbed his neck.

She turned to look over where Fred and Wasabi were debating the possibilities of who would want to get ahold of a Ninja Baymax. "Hey, Fred!"

"Yeah, what?" he shouted back, not moving.

GoGo sighed. "Come here!"

He trotted over, looking evermore curious.

"Just want to talk," GoGo explained.

"Okay. Talking is good," Fred grinned, slapped a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry about embarrassing you."

"Honestly though," she decided to level one thing with him. "I really don't care what you two talk about on your own time. Just,  _please_ , keep all that to yourself when you're around us, okay?"

"Sure thing. Are we good then?" Fred perked up.

GoGo popped her gum, looking at them with her arms crossed. "And for the record... I  _do_  wear underwear, thank you very much."

She shot a look at Hiro, who suddenly appeared rather embarrassed again as he watched her turn to leave the two.

"Hey, chillax, buddy. It's all good," Fred pushed Hiro forward toward the others, in an effort to get him to loosen up.

"Hiro, do you need a ride back to campus?" Honey Lemon called out.

He picked up his skateboard by the couch, looking at it, then to the others. It was an ever constant battle for the younger Hamada. He was trying so hard lately to be more mature and independent around them. He even asked Aunt Cass about using Tadashi's old scooter to get to campus. She wasn't sure about allowing it yet, for safety reasons.

"Um, sure. But I call shotgun!" Hiro finally made his decision to join them.

GoGo rolled her eyes, wondered why else he called shotgun. It wasn't just because he needed the extra space for Baymax. She felt like he was trying to avoid her again. It was a trend she noticed anytime she had teased or warned him about her personal space. He would be on tiptoes around her for the next couple of days, unless she said something about it.

"Thanks again, Fred! See you later," Wasabi said, leading the way out.

* * *

The damp mist of the rainy night finally was beginning to chill the young robotics engineer to the bone as he sat in his corner of the garage. Breaking from his work, he pulled out the electric radiant heater and cranked it up to warm the space. After warming his fingers for a minute, Hiro decided to take a break from trying to complete stage one for his project that semester. November meant crunch time, what with finals coming up in three weeks. But, trying to keep his mind focused on one thing lately hadn't been his best strength.

He pulled his tablet over to him, and opened up a messenger app.

[MegaZot] Hey, GoGo...

[MegaZot] When you guys were looking for more videos and stuff about the portals on Akuma island, was there anything else there you saw about what happened?

[GoGoTomago] Hiro

[GoGoTomago] Is this an emergency?

[MegaZot] No

[GoGoTomago] Do you know what time it is?

[MegaZot] 2:41:34 am

[GoGoTomago] Yes!

[GoGoTomago] Go to bed!

[MegaZot] Not yet...

[GoGoTomago] I rather talk when the sun is up.

[MegaZot] Okay... good night.

Hiro sighed, and switched chat channels over to Fred. He never seemed to complain about the time.

[MegaZot] Do you know how long has the science of teleportation has been in existence?

[MegaZot] The concept of it, versus the first time it became an actual reality?

[Kaiju] hi little buddy

[MegaZot] sometimes I wonder if that's what happened to the plane my parents were on

[Kaiju] ... what r u talking about

[MegaZot] Portals

[MegaZot] …and if they can suck up a big airplane

[Kaiju] why?

[MegaZot] just something that crossed my mind

[Kaiju] what happened to your parents?

[MegaZot] The flight they were on disappeared... went off the radar. No crash site was found.

[Kaiju] oh... Tadashi said they crashed into the ocean

[MegaZot] That's just the story we tell ppl

[Kaiju] oic

[Kaiju] like an alien space bridge?

[MegaZot] maybe

[MegaZot] it would have to be big

[Kaiju] as for ur question… I dont think they were that advanced back then

Hiro got tired of typing, and switched it over to a 'talk to text' function so he could finish assembling a part of the prototype for his new robot's chassis.

[MegaZot] That's what makes me wonder. If they knew there was a good chance that abigail was still in there, why didn't they try to reactivate the portal to see about getting her out earlier

[MegaZot] I was able to get in and out of the same portal

[Kaiju] yea… good point! But I can't confirm nor deny that truth

[MegaZot] Really.. what if there was more to it? I think there has to be.

[Kaiju] ur really serious about that

[MegaZot] Yeah

[MegaZot] Not right away though but something to think about

Hiro stopped talking, just so he could focus on how a couple pieces fit together before fusing them.

[Kaiju] did u have another portal dream, or something?

[MegaZot] No

[MegaZot] Just working on something in the garage

[Kaiju] like what?

[MegaZot] My other project…

[Kaiju] its another robot, right?

[MegaZot] yeah

[Kaiju] a big robot?

[MegaZot] kind of

[Kaiju] is it going to be a transformer?

[MegaZot] no

[Kaiju] a fire breathing godzilla?

[MegaZot] hah... no

[Kaiju] you're still not going to say?

[MegaZot] yup

[Kaiju] i won't tell

[MegaZot] that's what I'm worried about

[Kaiju] :p

[Kaiju] not tired yet?

[MegaZot] pff... sleep is for the weak

[MegaZot] I can barely move my arms though

[Kaiju] for real!

More silence again as he looked what was starting to resemble the head of his robot. He was also noticing Fred's subtle hints about how late it was getting as well. At least he could go out with a bang.

[MegaZot] she prolly wears a thong

[Kaiju] lol

[Kaiju] ur still thinking about that?

[MegaZot] no thanks to you, buddy

[Kaiju] ur the one who made her super suit look so hot

[MegaZot] she told me too

[Kaiju] sure

[MegaZot] ಠ_ಠ

[Kaiju] y'know... going commando could mean less laundry overall

[MegaZot] O_o

[Kaiju] or not... I actually would have to wash my pants

[MegaZot] o_O

[MegaZot] maybe now is a good time for me to go to bed

[Kaiju] hah

[Kaiju] nighty night then

[MegaZot] yeah, ditto :p

 


	3. Chapter 3

The door was shut to the Hamada lab as Hiro sat at a work table in one corner that was covered with metallic parts, circuits, and bins containing even smaller pieces. The fog from that morning had completely burned off by the bright early afternoon sun. The sounds of action movie and anime soundtrack scores that came from his tablet helped break the silence in the room. That, along with the occasional snore. The robotics genius had dozed off earlier, his head resting on his left arm on the table. His right hand still loosely held a tool.

It was the chiming sound of a text coming through on his tablet that had awoken him with a start. Hiro reached over to pull his tablet closer, to also check the time. He also wiped off some of the drool he just noticed at the corner of his mouth and cheek. Yawning, the teen typed his response to GoGo that he was still going to stop by the Kyoto Kafe for lunch, and then remembered to turn off the music before shutting down his tablet.

He just packed his bare essentials, namely the tablet and the Japanese workbooks for that class afterwards, plus his lunch and skateboard, before dashing out the door. It was not something Hiro did often, just only when he was running late, but after getting to the first floor of the big lab building, he put down his skateboard to coast the rest of the way out.

* * *

Gogo already had finished her lunch, but she stuck around for Hiro to get to the Kafe since she still wanted to talk. With the schedule being as it was, the team settled on meeting for lunch at the Kyoto Kafe on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. For the last few weeks, it had been touch and go for many of them, due to the demands of part time work schedules or just needing that time to finish other assignments and projects by the end of this semester.

The mechanical engineer did find it oddly ironic that it was just Hiro who came for the last few days. She concluded that was because they had their Japanese class to go to an hour afterwards, which also was held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Unless, the others really did think the two of them needed more time together. Wasabi, on the other hand, he had his own set of reasons.

"Hi," Hiro promptly slid into to the bench seat of the booth opposite to GoGo, banging his skateboard and backpack against the bench in his haste.

The sophomore took a moment, chewing her gum to notice his pensive expression that hid his gap tooth smile this time. His bangs were starting to hang low over his eyes too.

"Have a good nap?" GoGo asked, matter of factly.

"What? No..." Hiro swept his hair back out of his eyes, in confused denial. "I mean, how...?"

GoGo just ran a finger on her cheek, mirroring the red lines she had seen on his. "You gotta mark from your sweatshirt," she whispered.

"Scrap," the teen quickly rubbed his face, hoping to make them go away.

She decided to not ask what time he actually went to bed. "What was your question in that text last night?"

"Uhm," he was reaching over to grab his lunch from his backpack. "Yeah, it was about that time we went to Akuma Island, and you guys found other videos. Were there more on what happened?"

Again, she waited a beat to pop her gum before responding. That question took guts from Hiro's behalf, knowing full well as to why he himself didn't know. The speedster kept her voice down, just because she didn't like discussing these kind of superhero matters in public. "There were other files, but we didn't have time to go thru them all. Honey only copied that one about Callaghan's daughter."

 _But since we were more worried about you, we didn't look at anything else..._ she finished the rest of the thought to herself.

He did look rather stiff in his motions after lifting his tablet up out of his pack. "I'm getting the feeling something else happened, keeping them from going back. Why else would it be quarantined like that?"

"Because something else happened," she simply repeated his line. And to change that topic, she grabbed a protein drink from her bag, then swapped it out with his energy drink.

"Hey!" Hiro stared at her, wondering why she did that.

"Try that instead. Drinking more fluids and milk will flush out more of the lactic acid buildup so your muscles don't get as sore. Caffeine's a diuretic, making it worse." She insisted. There was no doubt at this point he was sore from the push-ups yesterday. Fred was Fred, but it still bothered her that she had lost her temper with the both of them. GoGo thought she had gotten better about controlling those kind of outbursts.

"Thanks, Baymax," Hiro teased her. "Except I'm lactose intolerant."

"Lactose intolerant  _and_  allergic to peanuts... sucks to be you." GoGo huffed, teasing him back. The peanut allergy became an unlikely topic during his second week of classes back in September when Fred came in with a PB & J. Even though Hiro tried to tell them he wasn't severely allergic, Wasabi still made the mascot sit at another table. "But, this stuff is not made with milk or nuts. Just drink it, short-stuff."

After taking two bites from his sandwich, he did. Just not without one more protest. "I did grow two inches last month!"

"I'm still taller than you."

Hiro stuck his tongue out at her. Then he looked at the ingredients on the bottle. "Not sweet enough..."

At risk of also sounding like Wasabi, however, GoGo had to bite her tongue about what she thought of him drinking too much caffeine and sugar, on top of staying up all hours of the night. He'll be forever short and slight at that rate. So a different topic then.

"Hiro, when did you start having the dreams?"

He gave her a look that must have indicated he wasn't expecting that question, while he swallowed a gulp of the protein drink. "A couple months ago."

"Do you have them a lot?" Her concerned eyes were on him. That time frame meant they must have started after they caught Callaghan.

"Not really," he looked down. "At first they didn't make sense though. Just scary shapes and stuff."

She just watched him fidget with the lid from the bottle.

"The inside of the portal was like being inside a nebula in outer space, except it wasn't," Hiro sighed. "Then the shapes started attacking."

"Shapes."

"Microbots. They are all in there, hiding in the gases and debris inside of, of… that place," Hiro narrowed his eyes to emphasize their elusive and scary nature.

"But they are also nothing without the neurotransmitter!"

"Unless someone found a way to make another. Primus knows what other... freaky, malicious, life forms are in there!" He was getting a little bit more animated as he spoke about this.

At this point, GoGo rolled her eyes. "Okay, how many late-night, scary monster movies have you also been watching?"

"I'm serious!" Hiro gasped, holding his hands out.

"We're basing all this off of your overactive, post-traumatic nightmares." GoGo sat back against the seat of her booth. "What am I supposed to think?"

"If I didn't think this was something, I wouldn't have told you guys in the first place." Hiro responded with that subtle hurt tone.

GoGo sighed, guessing that he was very likely trying to mess with her again. "Don't go there."

They were quiet for a while as a result. Hiro finished the last of his sandwich, and ate a couple more chips, before he glanced at her briefly. His eyes went back to his lunch again, still not saying anything.

She sighed. "Okay… Just let me know when you're ready for us to go back to the island." The silence continued a moment longer, before he finally took the next stab.

"Why are you so tough on Fred?" He asked her.

GoGo popped her gum, then chewed it as she shook her head. And yet, the question she had was why Hiro liked someone as weird and obnoxious as Fred. Well, apart from it possibly being a Hamada thing, since it was Tadashi who had befriended the man-child and invited him to join their club.

"Because... he liked me," GoGo sighed, "But Fred's absolutely not my type."

Hiro just gave her the bugged-out look.

"He didn't tell you?"

"Not exactly."

"Explains that then," GoGo had her eyes on the table. She had other reasons too, like the fact she also had a short fling with Wasabi. "He's jealous."

Hiro laughed once, trying to hide his smile.

"All that means is that I just like you as a little brother." She leveled her eyes with him. "For now."

He just nodded, not appearing phased yet by that fact. Hiro just crumpled up what was left of his lunch to throw away.

"That's part of why I was so mad yesterday," GoGo looked at him, hoping this would make more sense without upsetting him too much. It wasn't the whole story, but it was what she was going to tell him for now. "It's just that you're fourteen, and- let's face it, I'm not ready to think of you as a boyfriend, yet."

"Yeah… sorry." It was all he could say, his eyes shifting from her to his hands on the table.

_Smooth move, girl. Now he's hating himself again. Change it up._

"Okay, so you know that when I was in high school, I was big into street racing, right?" She said, chewing her gum casually. "It's a guy's sport... so yeah, I got a lotta.. 'feedback' from them, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," He was nervously flipping the bottle's lid in his fingers again.

"Just pisses me off when guys are like that, that's all." She shrugged, hoping that made better sense.

Hiro pressed his lips together in thought, still playing with the lid between his fingertips. "How come you don't have a car here? Was it because of the freshman/sophomore rule?"

"I wish," she popped her gum. "My license is still suspended."

"Oh... For how long?" He didn't bother with asking why, because he somehow understood.

"Til next year." GoGo checked her watch, seeing it was time to go. She stood up. "That's part of the reason why I am working on such a fast bike. No motor… no need for a license. No reason to be pulled over."

"Slick." Hiro followed suit, appearing very much relieved to be going as he got his things together.

* * *

Saturday mornings were usually touch and go. If the weather was nice, or people in general have some reason to be up and at 'em, then the café was busy. Which also meant that Aunt Cass was literally dragging Hiro out of bed to come down and help. And by help, it meant waiting on and cleaning tables.

Only because Aunt Cass hired an eighteen year old barista to come in and work most mornings now. His name was Steve, and was also a guitar player for a praise and worship cover band. He looked the part too, as there were tattoos on his arms (which he kept covered up with long sleeves), some piercings in his ears, and his brunette hair had the tips bleached and dyed red. Steve probably wore it like a mohawk if he was performing, as the sides and back of his hair were cut close with clippers. But while working, it was pulled back into a ponytail, otherwise making Hiro think he looked like Sokka from the Last Airbender series. Steve certainly was quite the character too, using juggling and other creative twists when making the drinks - no doubt the reason why Aunt Cass hired him.

Today, however, Wasabi came by to help with a new website and app design Aunt Cass was thinking about doing for her café. Hiro was going to work on the app, but Wasabi wanted to make sure the information between the two platforms were the same. There were a number of other tech gurus in the coffee shop that morning too, talking about start-ups and other innovations.

And Fred, he just happened to be passing by when he noticed them there. He was on his way to advertise with his sign spinning skills for a pre-black Friday sale at a store a few blocks down. Of course, free coffee and donuts are always hard to resist.

Hiro slid behind Aunt Cass standing at the register to take over the three coffees he made to his teammates.

She caught him by the arm on the way out from behind the counter. "Hey, those aren't 'fully loaded' this time, are they?" Aunt Cass whispered.

"No," Hiro tried to sound truthful.

"Okay, sweetie," she winked at him. She didn't mind the coffee being on the house for them, but the excessive number of shots and syrup he had been putting in them was not good.

After setting the tray on the table, Hiro pulled the top part of his apron over his head and flipped it down, just to indicate he wasn't working at the moment. Kneeling in a chair, he leaned over to see what Wasabi had so far.

"I'll let you know when this is ready, then after Ms. Cass approves, you can finish up the app," he explained. Then picked up his coffee cup with a frothy cappuccino, "And thanks."

"Sure," he picked up his tablet that was on the table, then pulled out the keyboard that was in the back cover to attach to the side.

"Looking cool," Fred agreed, watching as the physics scientist flipped back and forth between the coding screen and the graphic webpage in his web programming software.

"Hear anything yet about the grant you applied for?" Wasabi asked Hiro, his eyes still on the string of code he was typing.

"Not yet. Still waiting," Hiro frowned, also looking at his screen.

"Hey guys!" Aunt Cass came over to greet them warmly. "How's it looking so far?"

Wasabi promptly switched the screens to show her the website in real time, while also describing the features they discussed.

Suddenly, and simultaneously, the alerts chimed on Hiro's tablet and on the phones between Wasabi and Fred. It was the Big Hero team alert from GoGo, and before they could act that was when the whole café felt like it was dropped. That was just the first tremor, and then the place really started to lurch.

"Oh no. Everyone, take cover!" Aunt Cass warned everyone, ducking under the table they were at. Others closer to the entrance exited outside as well.

Hiro quickly concluded this wasn't going to be one those little tremors they usually have. The cups and laptops from everyone's tables came crashing to the floor, along with anything and everything else that was loose throughout the café.

Instead of taking cover, the three instinctively looked over to the large windows up front in horror. It felt like a minute had passed, and the quaking still continued.

Fred grabbed his sign and a tray off the floor to use as shields as he ran toward one window that already started to crack. Hiro and Wasabi picked up two small tables no one was using in an effort to also shield the people up front from the glass.

Before the two could get there, the large window panes up front had exploded inwards from the buckling pressure coming from the ground below. At least they were in place when the front awing collapsed next, with clay roof tiles raining down through the damaged entry way.

"We need to get out of here!" Wasabi shouted, worried that the place was going to collapse next. But they still held their ground for the next few moments, hoping for it to stop shaking.

 _Damn... why..._  That was all Hiro could think, his teeth gritted as he stood awkwardly with the table over a mother with her two children. The mother and one of the little boys were bleeding from the glass fragments. The younger one was sheltered more under her jacket, still inside the stroller. He gently let the table drop behind them into the pile of rumble before taking a step back.

The quaking of the earth had stopped at that point, but his hands had not stopped shaking from the adrenaline rush. "Baymax, suit up. And call 911." Hiro pushed a button to speak into his comm-link watch. He left his robot in the garage earlier, so he hoped his healthcare companion was able to respond quickly. He really could use his help, like  _now._

Hiro knelt down to the mother with her children, who were now screaming and crying in shock of what had just happened. "It's okay, I can help… you'll be okay," he first assessed their situation, not touching them yet because of the blood. Hiro heard Wasabi and the others around him talking also, but he first had to focus on keeping his own calm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> l just want to add that I give much of my credit to the deleted scenes videos Disney had revealed, as well as some of the research I have done about SF earthquake history. Also, kudos to author 'wreckingduty' for a similar idea from her/his fanfic "Beyond the Portal" in reference to Hiro's dreams in this fic. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hiro quickly surveyed his shaken surroundings in his Aunt's cafe to fully grasp the severity of the situation. The shakng had fortunately stopped from the earthquake. The power was also out, making it darker toward the back of the cafe. The others closer to the front with Wasabi had received a few cuts and scrapes from losing their balance during the shakeup. A few had counted their lucky stars for not running outside, as they might have been struck with the falling roof tiling.

The mother of the two boys by Hiro did well in comforting them, and their cries were not as loud. Steve approached them with a first aid kit, and provided the mother with tweezers, gauze, and wet wipes to at least help her oldest boy feel better. Hiro still looked around, wondering when Baymax was going to get here.

Aunt Cass and Fred had been checking on the other patrons, and helped them gather their belongings. Hiro also started to feel a little better knowing that there weren't any major injuries there. Without any windows now, the audible sounds of sirens from different areas in the city began to fill the room.

"Baymax! Where are—" Hiro turned away to whisper into his watch-comm, only to be cut off by the sound of wood splintering and other sounds of destruction coming from the back of the cafe. A large robotic red arm and a leg came through the hole first, pulling the rest of Baymax's body through.

Needless to say, Aunt Cass's drop jaw expression matched the mental anguish Hiro felt when he knew he would be held responsible for that, even though it was an emergency and that the garage door really could be blocked. However, his robot was also capable of recognizing his fault, and had paused momentarily to acknowledge it.

"My apologies if my actions may have caused you any distress, ma'am." Baymax told her, before continuing to the front.

"I'll be okay. Thank you, Baymax," she smiled, weakly.

Of course, almost everyone else in the cafe fell silent upon seeing the large red robot carefully make his way around the toppled furniture and other items on the floor.

"Whoa! Is that Baymax?" One college kid finally asked. The heroic robot had made headlines a couple times earlier, so he was becoming a more recognizable figure among many. On the flip-side, Hiro and the others had to act like they did not know him, since they were out of uniform and otherwise did not want to reveal who they were.

"It's a robot!" The little blonde haired boy with Hiro stood up as wonder filled his eyes. The cuts on his face and arms were quickly forgotten at this point.

"Hello Ben," Baymax looked to the boy before returning his gaze to the others. "Hello everyone, I am your personal healthcare companion. I have scanned all of you for injuries."

"He knows my name! How does he know my name?" The boy started talking excitedly.

Baymax continued his usual dialogue, which at this point focused on the discussion of signs rather than symptoms, another detail Hiro had tweaked so that Baymax would be more considerate of others privacy when talking to a group of new people. The armored healthcare robot turned to the mother and her children first, as they were pining for the most attention.

Hiro became further distracted from the situation when GoGo had paged him on his watch-comm, her voice sounding very agitated. "Where are you guys?"

Hiro quickly moved to the back of the cafe, and slipped through the door that went upstairs so he could talk out of sight. "At the Lucky Cat. Wasabi, Fred, and I are here. The earthquake shook this place up real bad. Baymax is-"

"Are you guys okay?" Her voice softened slightly.

"Yeah, we're okay, but-" He spoke into the comm-link on his wrist as he looked down, being careful to not step on fallen pictures and more broken glass on the floor. The young team leader was becoming faintly aware of the smell of natural gas too.

"Then hurry up and get down here!"

"Wait, where are you?" Hiro just realized neither one of them got see any information about the alert because of the earthquake. And from the way she was talking, it sounded like there was more. "Your alert, it wasn't about the earthquake, was it."

"Of course not!" she explained quickly. "I was on my delivery route when I saw a burglary in progress at one of the art shops. No one else did anything, so I took pursuit. Then the f'n earthquake hit and I lost 'em!"

"Where are you?" He asked again, using his foot to push some of the debris on the floor aside. He didn't have the time to go looking for his tablet to see the coordinates in the alert.

"Bayside, on the north beach by Ryoshi's Wharf." GoGo explained. "Now go!"

"But what happened? Are you okay?" Hiro tried to stay calm, and to think out the next steps of action. And to not jump to ridiculous conclusions that she was also hurt, but not telling him for whatever reason.

"Relax Hiro, I'm okay," her voice reassured him, quickly, before explaining further. "But there are others here who are trapped and hurt, so please.. hurry! The first responders are even having trouble getting through."

"Okay, okay! Going," Hiro turned, clenching his jaw as he thought quickly about how to get his super suit and leave without attracting attention. But the door to the cafe slammed into him when Fred and Aunt Cass opened it suddenly.

"Oh, sweetie! I'm sorry!" Aunt Cass apologized, once they got over their shock of running into each other.

"I'm okay," Hiro mumbled, despite the fact he was rubbing his arm.

"What's up, buddy?" Fred asked, still noticing the worried look about Hiro. "You disappeared."

"Not good," Hiro scratched his neck in thought as he pointed in the direction of the bay. "We gotta head out to the street markets up by the Bay. They need lots of help there."

"Oh, no. How bad?" Aunt Cass wondered. She also was surveying the mess caused by the earthquake in that area of her house.

"GoGo said there's a lot of people trapped. The buildings there aren't all that structurally sound." Hiro frowned, glancing to his aunt. "I'm sorry, Aunt Cass..."

"It's okay, Hiro," the brunette looked to him, running a hand through her nephew's hair to better see his worried face, then gripping his arms. "I can handle this. Go help those who need it."

He nodded and turned to leave, when Fred interrupted. "Hey, I'll stay here to help clean-up and fix stuff, if that's okay."

Hiro stopped, holding the door open. That just seemed a little odd that he didn't want to go this time. "You sure?"

"Just to give you peace of mind, Hero, buddy," Fred slapped his hand on his teammate's back. "It's what friends do."

"Oh, you're too much," Aunt Cass also gushed, squeezing Fred briefly as her way to say thank you, then also gave Hiro a quick hug before she stepped back out to the cafe.

"I'll keep in touch," Hiro nodded with a small smile, then paused another second before leaving. "Oh, there's a gas leak here too, so no flames, okay Freddie?"

The fanboy smirked, catching on to Hiro's subtle humor. He crossed his arms, indignantly. "Well, yeah. Honey's the one who likes explosions!"

But as soon as Fred said that, he smacked his hand on his mouth. If GoGo was there, she most likely would be knocking him upside the head for possibly making Hiro think about his house going up in a fiery explosion. "Totally sorry," he said as he followed the teen out.

Hiro didn't say anything though, as he had too much else on his mind.

* * *

The misty patches of fog filtering the light of the late morning sun in the bay area was the best part about flying over San Fransokyo. It felt like a whole other fantasy world one would see in a movie, or a video game. But the clouds hid from sight the calamity the earthquake had caused below.

Baymax dipped sharply to the right as he flew closer to their destination by the popular tourist area. He also had the coordinates and knew exactly where to land and find GoGo.

"Ow," Hiro muttered again, when Wasabi nervously knocked into him to use Hiro's leg and knee as a foothold. The larger college student was clinging tightly to Baymax's left wing, and the sharp bank to the right as they descended caused him to panic, for the fifth hundred time.

"Wasabi, I will not let you fall. Deep breaths." Baymax reassured him, again.

"Oh man, oh man..." Wasabi tried to take deeper breaths in a renewed attempt to get a grip on his fears. He decidedly kept his eyes shut now, as he held his face down again so the wind didn't take his breath away. The coolness of the misty clouds hit his face as it whipped over him during the descent. This was just his third time flying on Baymax, but it could as well been the first time due to the extent of his fear of heights and flying.

They landed on the slanted, crumbling road next to the largest pier, Ryoshi's Wharf, and Baymax knelt down so the two could slide to the ground.

"Whoo!" Wasabi gasped, hands on his knees and otherwise resisting the urge to just kiss the questionably solid asphalt ground. "Sorry about all that, man."

"You'll get the hang of it," Hiro tried to reassure him. His attentions quickly shifted to surveying the damage of the area along the street by the pier. Due to the extent of the damage, the first responders appeared to be spread thin as they tried to help the harder hit areas first. While the buildings of the city had been rebuilt to endure the shaking ground after the great earthquake of 1906, there was no foolproof way to safeguard these smaller buildings by the Bay from the liquefaction of the earth. Further down the way, a police car with its lights still flashing was stopped at where the road had completely sunk down to the water level. Waves also were crashing over the furthest end of the long pier a mile or so down.

Before the question came to Hiro's lips about where GoGo was, the speedster zipped up to them and screeched to a halt. She had her street clothes on, but also wore her yellow gauntlets and boots with her disks, and her helmet.

"About time!" That was how she greeted them, before noticing they were one short. "Where's Fred?"

"Back at the Lucky Cat, helping out," Hiro explained. Although, it did confuse him as to why she was dressed the way she was. "Um.. Do you usually wear your disks when doing deliveries?"

"No," GoGo sighed, looking as if she didn't have time for a question like that. "I built my suit into my bicycle, in the event of emergencies like this."

"Now follow me," she pointed down the way. It had looked like a good part of that section of the coastline by the bay had sunken down.

"Oh," Hiro rose an eyebrow, impressed by her ingenuity. That was all she had to say, as he already began to visualize the disks being inset into the wheels, the gauntlets and boots being magnetized to the frame, and the electromagnetic motors being shared by the bicycle. The young leader shook his head, reminding himself to focus again. It was his tendency to escape into concrete things that did make sense when everything else around him did not.

Wasabi had started to ask something, when the ground abruptly shifted a few more times. An aftershock. He had adopted a low horse-riding type of stance, his wary eyes checking with the others to make sure that was that, before he straightened up a little more.

"Yeah, where's Honey Lemon?" Wasabi finally asked.

"Down there, in the restaurant she works-" GoGo paused a moment to explain.

"She's one of the trapped?" Hiro gasped, catching her drift. He was right about that funny feeling that she was hiding something. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"We need you to stay calm, Hiro," she simply told him, turning to coast in the direction of the larger buildings, next to were the land had dropped a few feet down.

"I _am_ calm!" Hiro all but yelled, running after her. He was left wondering who the boss really was again. "Where is her restaurant?"

She didn't say more, as Baymax was again attracting the attention of the other people on the street. It just wouldn't look very cool for them to be seen fighting amongst themselves about trivial matters. More sirens also began to echo in the distance as help tried to move into the area. A helicopter from a news channel also flew a respectable distance overhead to survey the bay there.

"There," GoGo stopped by what had been a beachside seafood restaurant that had sunken down and now had waves crashing up against one side of it.

"My scanners indicate that there are many people are inside," Baymax confirmed. "And many have received injuries."

"Wasabi, work with Baymax to cut and remove the structures and cinder blocks out of the way to gain access," Hiro told the two, not wasting any time.

He was about to say something more when GoGo showed him a new text from Honey on her phone.

[HLemon] The team here? Getting really worried... gas leak too

Hiro took the phone to text her his response real quick before jumping in.

[GoGoTomago] This is Hiro. We r here... Hang on!

[HLemon] TY!

Hiro was about to give the phone back to GoGo, when an alert pop-up on the screen from the Emergency Alert System caught his attention.

_**[** _ _**Tsunami Warning has been issued...** _ _Waves expected to reach the southern coast of SF by 11:23 am. Waves expected to reach 30 feet above sea level.]_

"Really?" Hiro groaned, talking to himself. "Where was the epicenter?" He could only assume the severity must have been a 6.5 or higher, to merit this level of destruction. They were on the north side of the city, whereas the waves would hit the south side. However, it would still come through the Golden Gate and raise the levels of the bay. It didn't sound like a huge wave, but it was still concerning as they had less than thirty minutes.

"We got to hurry!" he tossed the phone to GoGo, before climbing down the landslide. This had to be there first search and rescue type of mission. While he had been secretly equipping Baymax for this type of work, he still was drawing blanks as how he and GoGo could effectively use their super suit tech for this.

"That's what I've been telling you!" GoGo couldn't resist that jab. She also had worn her disks long enough to be able to maneuver down sideways through the rubble after him.

The water level was actually starting to recent a little bit now, but Wasabi stopped his work when he hit some live wires. "Hot damn! Stand back, guys!" He jumped out of the water. "Be careful, Baymax!"

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a tough one to write… I'll be honest! I am a landlocked Midwesterner, so my real life knowledge of earthquakes only comes from the big ones that make the news (disaster movies don't count, 'cause they have this gross way of exaggerating stuff!). Hopefully my research was believable. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!

 

" _When I am afraid, I put my trust in you." ~ Psalm 56:3_

"Wait, if the power is out in this area, how is that wire hot?" Wasabi stood there staring at the sparking wires in the rubble.

"Their backup generators must still be on," Hiro told them, after also overhearing the nearby group of people who did get out of the restaurant.

"Just move to a different place!" GoGo growled at the swordsman, her impatience showing again.

Hiro stepped up instead to use the electromagnetic pulsars in the palms of his gloves to blast the offending structures back. The force did cause the sparks to glow brighter each time. But it was working, and after another palm blast, he was seeing an opening. At the same time, a hot explosion erupted out toward Hiro. Thankfully, his reflexes were just as fast as he squeezed his fingertips hard into his palms, making fists, which activated his protective magnetic shield.

The young leader didn't hear exactly what the others were saying at that point, he just heard them yelling as Baymax dragged him back some ways. His heart was pounding from the sudden adrenaline rush, and he could only stare in shock for a few long seconds as he sat on the roadside rubble.

 _How could I be so stupid?_   _I'm going to end up like my brother!_

 _Without my super-suit, or Baymax, I would be..._  He clenched his jaw, realizing again the fragility of his short mortal existence. He still remained motionless, watching the others coldly.

Baymax decided to go with the next best action of using his rocket fist from some distance, to knock open a larger hole for them to gain access. Despite Wasabi's concerns about the fist knocking into someone inside, GoGo refuted that the explosion Hiro caused would have already warned them to stay back.

Once clear, Baymax motioned to the others to go inside. He turned back to Hiro to help him back to his feet. "Your neurotransmitter levels are erratic, and you are exhibiting symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, again. Are you able to proceed, Hiro?"

"Don't worry, I'm fine!" he lied, "I can do this." He pushed by Baymax just to keep the robot from fussing over him now. Sometimes he regretted including mental health information to Baymax's database, even if it was to stop the occasional false diagnosis of puberty. The teen in blue readjusted his helmet before following after Wasabi and GoGo.

"Hey, we're here to get you out. Is there anyone needing immediate assistance?" Wasabi cautiously climbed over the boards and crumbled masonry, trying to make out anyone in the flickering light of the dining area.

"Oh thank god, Wa- ah, Big Hero 6 is here!" Honey's voice spoke up, albeit weakly. Now came the tough part, the team had to act like they didn't know her in order to protect each other's identities. "It hurts to move, some of the supports fell on us..."

"Don't worry about moving," Wasabi interjected, briefly looking back to the others for the next plan of action.

"Help Baymax, Wasabi," Hiro finally spoke up. "GoGo and I will get the others out."

Baymax was now operating off the additional program chip for an emergency responder that Hiro had integrated into his set. With his scanner and sensors, the red robot was taking in readings of the area, the structures and air quality, to see if they were in danger because of the environment. The ceiling was unstable without the supports holding it up. He also scanned the structure from the fallen supports and interior brick wall that fell on four conscious people to one side in the front. There were still heavy levels of natural gas in the air, and the water was rising again too. He concluded that they had to work quickly, but carefully.

"I'll cut this down to size, so it's easier to move," Wasabi told Baymax as the two promptly moved over to the heavy wooden beam first. He briefly touched Honey's shoulder to give her some reassurance before he activated his blades.

Baymax also saw in his scans the type of injuries they had, but refrained from reporting them this time as to not cause panic. But as they worked, another hard aftershock caused more plaster, roof tiles, and splintered wood come down.

"Activate your shields, Baymax!" Hiro shouted to him as he brought up his own, which was only big enough for himself and one other. GoGo followed suit by grabbing the two people with her to get under a large table she propped up.

That tremor was enough to cause the rest of the roof to collapse on top of everyone, exposing them to the open sky. From the magnetic ports on the red robot's back emitted a large, rectangular magnetic force field that also helped shield most of the trapped people from the falling ceiling.

Hiro held his shield over his head as to accommodate the taller man with him. They both ended up crouching down when the weight of the ceiling debris came down on them.

_Don't freak out... stay calm._

"Help me, Tada-nii," Hiro mouthed the words for reassurance. His arms started to shake from having to hold up one end of a heavy joist plank that landed on his shield.

 _Breathe. Focus. Breathe._  Hiro squeezed his eyes shut as he drew in another breath.

No one spoke or moved for a few long seconds more after the shaking stopped and the dust began to settle. Then Hiro finally dropped the heavy plank with a splash into the water.

"Wow... Okay, I guess that helped with clearing the gas out of the air," Wasabi commented nervously as he slowly straightened up and pushed aside some boards and drywall around him. Baymax's shield wasn't able to include him, so the larger man had to use his own body to shield Honey Lemon from further injury from any falling tiles. She looked up too, relieved that he and the others seemed to be holding up.

"You okay?" Hiro thought to ask the older gentleman he was with.

"Yes. A bit shaken, but thank you." He nodded, dusting himself off. "I'm the restaurant's manager. I want to tell you how much I appreciate all your help, sir."

"No problem," the boy in blue responded, appearing distracted now as he looked around for an easy way out of the soupy mess of debris and floodwater. "There's a tsunami coming, so we gotta get out fast."

Picking up on Hiro's queues, GoGo took aim with her yellow disks to clear another opening for them to pass through more quickly.

"Fly them out as soon as you can," Hiro advised Baymax, regarding the injured people. The water was rising faster, reaching their waists now.

Baymax's biggest concern was on his patients that had received many deep wounds from the broken furniture underneath, and now risking greater infection from the polluted seawater flooding in. But he understood that they first needed to get out of the unstable environment to higher ground before administering treatment. The young man in chef's clothing had the worse injuries to his leg, and a bleeding laceration to his stomach. He would have to be carried. The lady sou chef also sustained a hip injury and her a couple ribs had small fractures. He would have to take two trips.

Fortunately, the third person, a waitress, only sustained a broken arm and she followed after Wasabi as he carried out Honey Lemon on his back. Her knee and ankle also hurt too much to bear weight.

"Keep going!" GoGo followed up the rear with Hiro as they scrambled up the rubble in an effort to get to higher land.

The waves of water began to surge in faster, making their proximity to the docks still too close. The team and the restaurant staff still needed to pause for a moment on the street to regroup.

Knowing she could not run, Baymax strongly advised the injured chef to climb on his back, so he could transport her while he carried the now unconscious man in his arms.

"Hiro, I need to take them to a hospital, immediately," the healthcare robot told him.

"Okay. Just let me know where you went, Baymax. We'll catch... up.." Hiro acknowledged his request, but the red robot had already rocketed off before the teen finished talking.

"This way," GoGo pointed up an alley that didn't have too much rubble blocking their path. She had given up on using her foot disks, and repositioned them higher on her calves so she could also run on foot. This certainly had to be their first unfortunate kind of parkour course that they had to endure on their trek to higher ground.

The people from the restaurant had no choice but to also stay with the superhero team, feeling it was the safer decision for all of them to stay together. Other groups of people who had not vacated the city by vehicle yet were also making the trek to the higher levels of the city. After a few blocks of uphill travel, they stopped just to catch their breaths.

"We need to find a hospital," Wasabi said in between breaths, shifting Honey Lemon's weight up so she wasn't slipping. She was mindfully holding her tongue, in her effort of playing the one of hapless damsels in distress. But they could tell this was getting awkward for her.

"Did Baymax report in yet?" GoGo asked Hiro.

He shook his head no.

"There should be one not too far from here," one of the staff from the restaurant suggested. "Community West?"

Hiro turned away, pacing, as he paged his healthcare robot. He was certainly he had to have arrived to his destination now. "Baymax, where are you?"

"Community West. Assisting patients. Please leave message." Came the short, busy-signal type of response.

"Wait... you know Baymax just went to a hospital, by  _himself_ , right?" GoGo suddenly looked very worried, taking Hiro further aside from the others. "Has he..  _ever_  been to a hospital before?"

Hiro made a face, indicating that he hadn't. "That was on my 'to do' list?"

Gogo just gave him a peeved look. "We really have to hurry."

They turned back to the others, confirming it was Community West. "Hey, you guys are welcome to come too. They probably have phones and information to help you get in touch with your families." GoGo added.

"'Kay, let's go."

They had walked at a brisk pace for several more minutes along the street in the direction of the hospital. With the exception of the occasional checkup on those with injuries, they traveled in silence.

Hiro continued to pray that Baymax did not make like an unsupervised child in a candy store at the hospital. Would he recognize the doctors and nurses for who they are, and not try to undermine their positions? Or would he become like an overly helpful medical student that actually made matters worse for everyone else? This was something he never really experimented with before, to see how Baymax would behave.

"Hiro, I am in.. ja-a-il," Baymax's distorted voice suddenly came in over his comm-link. Or, yes, he could simply just blow a fuse from it all. He knew that Baymax was on the charger before all this, so it could not be possible for his batteries to be drained already.

 _Slag._  Hiro kept his pace, trying to not look royally disturbed by this new realization.

"What was that?" GoGo grabbed him by the arm again.

_Slag squared._

Hiro thought maybe she overheard the broadcast come from his helmet. "Um, nothing," the teen felt now was not a good time to discuss this - especially in front of the civilians. He did notice Wasabi also pause to turn to look back at him, in a worried way, as they walked.

"That did not sound like 'nothing'," she whispered angrily, using her comm-link to talk to Hiro, "I heard Baymax say he was in  _jail_ , thru my comm-link."

"Why is that  _my_  fault?!" Hiro wondered why she was suddenly angry at him. "He left before I could say anything to him!"

"Your programming, your responsibility," GoGo huffed.

"He's not programmed to cause  _trouble_!" it was a weak argument but that was all that Hiro could say. Yes, obviously something about the new programming might have conflicted with the code somewhere, but how could it be so bad he would get arrested?

"Baymax... What happened?" Hiro finally asked over the comm-link. "What did you do?"

"So-o-O ma-any pEE-pull... who-O need por-rr-table ah-ass.. ca-are."

Hiro made another face. " _Where_  are you?"

"Whe _eeere_  are... you,  _Hiiii_ ro? What is tsuuu-na- na-mi? Are you swi-swi-swim-ming?"

"Baymax...seriously, buddy. Where. Are. You?"

"Plee-Aase wait 3-zero miin-min-nutes.. Be foorr swim-ming!"

"I am fine. We're coming… just, stay there. Don't do  _anything_."

Hiro groaned. This was futile. He noticed another increasingly worried look from Wasabi. The malfunctioning robot was still broadcasting this to the three of them. Four, actually, since Honey Lemon could hear Wasabi's comm-link.

They still had to get to the hospital first, regardless. Hiro flipped open a cover on his left glove to check a small computer screen he had synced with Baymax, to track his location that way. It was harder, as the read out was often not accurate. But at least he could tell his robot was not at the police station.

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

"We're going to have to split up, before we get to the hospital." Hiro spoke to GoGo through the comm-link.

GoGo just gave him a curious look.

"If Baymax is in hot water, that would make us look bad as a superhero team," Hiro explained. He was also a little worried about possibly affecting their existing police records for the worse, if the cops really were involved.

"No," GoGo didn't agree with that. "If we mess up as a team, we take the blame together, as a team."

"I know... but it's still something I should take care of." Again, there were other reasons he didn't want to go into then and there. Hiro looked back briefly to the other civilians as well. "You and Wasabi need to take care of them... anyway."

"So you are assuming he's being held at the hospital?" GoGo noticed he did not say anything about the police station.

"Yeah," Hiro confirmed. "So... best to split up."

"And then what?" Wasabi chimed in on his comm-link.

"Regroup." Hiro stated simply. He was quiet for a couple more steps before asking. "How bad is Honey Lemon?"

"Hard to tell at this point." Wasabi admitted. "She's in a lot of pain though,"

They fell silent again, thinking about everything at hand. The day was barely half over, and there was still so much to do.

* * *

With his reammates waitibg in the waiting area of the crowded and overwhelmed ER bay of the hospital, Hiro went over to reception desk, still dressed in his armored blue supersuit and helmet.

"Did you have a big, red robot come here some time ago?" he asked the blonde woman behind the counter.

She gave him a long affirming look that indicated she knew what he was talking about, before responding. He didn't have to explain that he was trying to play the part of a superhero. That was plenty obvious. "Can you please remove your helmet, so I know who I am talking to."

Hiro sighed. There was, however, a reason why he did not take off his helmet already. So he just pushed a button to make his visor disappear.

"My red robot, where is he?" The Japanese-American teen asked again, while making a conscious effort to keep his mouth closed when not talking. He was all too aware the gap in his front teeth was another unique feature that could give away his identity.

The woman seemed to be studying his slightly obscured eyes from under the long strands of hair that stuck out from the helmet. "Your robot is being held in one of our offices in the back," she gestured behind her. "May I ask your name first, young man?"

Hiro fought to keep his patience as he quickly thought of an impromptu alias. Megazot or Nerd Boy just wouldn't fly, really. "Sansho Ebisan," he told her, while appearing as sincere as possible. Fortunately, she seemly didn't catch on that he said his name was 'Mr. Pepper Shrimp'.

"Sansho," she addressed him, "I am not sure what was going on, but I do want to advise you to not leave your robot unsupervised at a place like this again. We did not realize he was a robot until later."

Hiro nodded, already getting a sense of where this was headed. "Yes, I know."

"It was good for him to help bring in two injured patients, but things became intense when his hands began to glow." The woman explained.

"Those were his  _defibrillators_! Baymax is a  _healthcare_  robot." He responded sharply.

"I see, Sansho," she pursed her lips. "However... Baymax.. should have been in a more secure location before using them. A crowded waiting room is not a good place."

She paused before adding the last bit of information. "Our security offers had to taser your robot, as he was not responding to our requests to stop."

"They...  _What_?!" Hiro leaned in on the counter in surprise, suddenly being hit with a surge of emotion.

"I'm sorry, it was for the safety of everyone," she stood up to show him where to go. "During city-wide emergencies like this, we do not take chances."

" _Why_?" The rising anger began to consume him, making it harder for him to reason sensibly. "He was just trying to  _help_  you guys!"

Noticing the unfavorable change in his behavior, the receptionist beckoned a guard who approached them. Hiro clenched his shaking hands as he looked up at the guard. No words had to be exchanged, fortunately. He might have just lost his self-control otherwise.

"This way," the guard said, not relaxing his demeanor at all.

Hiro followed, cursing at them for what happened. He hoped the healthcare robot's circuits weren't completely fried. The teen also didn't like how edgy he had gotten, and forced himself to take another deep breath to calm down. The guard opened a door to a small storage room. He stayed by the entrance as the boy in blue entered.

Hiro saw a half deflated vinyl Baymax sitting against the wall, trying to balance his rocket fist on some armor pieces. The rest of his red armor was sitting in various stacks around the room, accompanied with empty bandage boxes and draped with old patient gowns. These 'creations' apparently we're the result of his glitching processor.

"Are you okay?" Hiro asked Baymax, out of habit. The robot blinked once at him, setting down his rocket fist.

"Hello Hiro. I can make-y th-thr-threeeee of me... we ha-ave aaaewll the piieeeces!" he gestured to his armor towers.

This looked bad. But just to check, he had to ask once more. Hiro held up three of his fingers of his bulky black and blue glove. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Wh-what is ro-r-wron-ong.. with your ha-hand?" The robot tilted his head, looking oddly at Hiro.

_He's definitely toast. Now what..._

Hiro paced around in the large closet, rubbing his neck in thought. He was still mad, but now it was a different kind of mad. More like disgust and various shades of frustration.

_Gotta take him back to the lab to run diagnostics... provided that the lab is intact, and still open. And someone can get us there._

He could fall back and use his garage too, but all of his best tech was at SFIT. The young genius set his jaw as he looked at Baymax, who was currently counting the fingers on his rocket fist.

"This... le-eddul.. Pig-E! He .. had rooow... toooasted.. bEef!" The failing robot picked up the thumb on his armored fist, then let the whole thing drop to the floor with a thud. He visibly was beginning to slow down too.

Hiro sighed and kneeled down to face Baymax. It was time to end this so he could get him out of there. "Baymax, I am satisfied with your care."

Baymax looked at him for a long moment, clearly not complying. "Yo-you... are not.. my p-pay shunt. Where.. is my... pay sh-shunt?"

Hiro closed his eyes for a second as a new reality kicked in. Never mind safety protocol, the hospital staff had to force Baymax to leave a critically injured patient so that they could quickly move the man into a care unit.

"He's in good hands now, Baymax. The doctors now are taking care of him." Hiro hoped that would be enough to cease and desist his unsatisfied programming. Deep down, he also hoped the cook was still alive, and actually in good care now. He had no way to know for sure.

"I'm sorry they tazed you, when you were just trying to help," he added, more solemnly as the younger Hamada looked down at the floor.

"Is my ..pay shunt stable-ze-eyed?"

Hiro looked back up and worked his mouth, before making up an answer. "Yes. He's okay now."

"Wot izzz taay zzzz-ed..."

"It's like... beibg electrocuted. Now you're damaged. I'm gonna have to run diagnostics on you, Baymax," Hiro started, only to be distracted by some orders coming over the guard's walkie talkie, as he was still standing by the door. Apparently there was another disturbance up front that needed attention.

Hiro felt a hundred times more relieved after the guard left, only because he felt like he didn't have to think twice about everything he said, just in case the guard was taking notes. He pulled off his bulky gloves so he could access Baymax's panel. The younger Hamada had discovered that his older brother did design a "kill switch" for Baymax when he was rebuilding him, which made sound sense, all things considered. However, Hiro hadn't told the others on the team about it, yet. Part of him was afraid of what would happen if that knowledge fell into the wrong hands. All more of a reason why he also included his voice recognition and fingerprints to authenticate the override, for shutting down the healthcare robot.

"Hey Hiro," GoGo's voice on the comm-link stilted his thoughts. "Could use your help up front!"

"Great..." Hiro sighed audibly. He knew all too well why.

"Hiro Hamada," the engineering student spoke into his wrist, pushing his finger tips on the touch screen. Once he transmitted the silent signal, the vinyl form abruptly deflated and collapsed.

"Be there in a sec!" Hiro called over his com-link.

Unfortunately, he didn't have Baymax's recharging platform to make packing him up happen quickly. The transformative pack-ability feature of the armor only worked if the platform was there, which it was not. So the young leader quickly nested together what he could of Baymax in a neat pile before jogging up the hallway.

* * *

From what Wasabi could tell, a group of gang members decided to mob the place and stir up some trouble. One red-haired guy was complaining about the wait they had, just to be able to use a phone. Another Japanese member, who actually had a flesh wound on his head, was arguing about how long he had to wait. The muscular built man with tattoos was stressing the fact that he was bleeding all over the place, as the guard held him tight against the wall.

Because of that, the rest of the gang decided to protest by destroying some of the tables, lamps, and even a chair in the waiting room with some well-aimed kicks and punches.

Wasabi wasted no time grappling with one of the punks, and hitched the Japanese man's arms behind his back. The strong nerdlab hero stood behind him with his arms locked in the man's elbows to hold him still.

Likewise, even though GoGo had stashed her disks outside, she had no problem incapacitating another one of the brutes before his actions hurt someone. Facing the blonde muscle man, she had grabbed his left arm and shoulder and literally swept him off his feet. Since he fell on his side, the yellow speedster kicked him in the gut, causing him to roll onto his stomach. While she still had a tight grip on his wrist, GoGo angled his arm behind his back in such a painful position, causing him to cry like a baby in his surrender.

One of the paramedic guys also jumped in to help with a couple other gang members when Hiro entered the scene.

A fist fight erupted between the paramedic and another larger angry gang member. The red-headed gang member threw a punch that knocked the paramedic off guard. Blood started to drip from the tech's nose, but before he could celebrate that victory, Hiro grabbed his attention.

"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" the young hero looked up at the muscle bound punk. A big emphasis on looking up, because Hiro also happened to notice a great deal of nose hairs in the angry man's flared nostrils.

"You? A  _chisana_  boy?" He laughed, spitting on the floor between them.

The teen's heart was pounding, as he briefly wondered what the hell was he doing risking his very life like this. Actually, he just wanted to take his frustration out on somebody.

"Yeah, 'cause no one else could see that your fly is down!" Hiro taunted the man, pointing down to the zipper. It was a total bluff, but an effective one.

"What did you say?" The punk abruptly grabbed Hiro's pliable armored shirt to lift him up to eye level.

"Gotcha?" That grab was the action Hiro hoped for, and he kicked the man hard in the groin. As the man buckled over, the young leader was then able to grip the wrist that had grabbed his chest plate and twisted it over his head and into such a painful angle, the punk had no choice but to stay bent over. Then for added measure, the boy kneed the man in the jaw with his hard magnet kneepad to completely bring him down to the floor.

"Oh yeah, I forgot... size really doesn't matter," Hiro told the guy, as he also kept the man's arm twisted painfully behind his back. He grabbed the other hand and brought them together, pressing his knee pad into the man's spine. That was GoGo's signature technique that he learned, and he knew why she liked it. It was so satisfying when it worked.

Hiro smiled behind his visor as he realized the extent of his victory. Of course, the man quickly began to wrest himself out if Hiro's hold in protest. He was big enough he could practically stand up with Hiro still on his back if he could get his feet under him. Hiro had to make sure that didn't happen.

One hand did get free and the man tried to roll to one side, but the teen stepped on that arm with his foot. If the punk tried anything else, Hiro was in position now to kick him in the face.

Fortunately, reinforcements actually arrived as a few police officers came in to take care of the situation before he had too. Hiro and GoGo were among the ones the officers approached first, since they looked like they were struggling the most.

"Who are you?" The officer asked Hiro as he took custody of the burly gang member in handcuffs. Apparently he must have heard of him before, from the way he looked at the costumed boy.

"Big Hero 6," Hiro kept the answer simple. "We just wanted to help you guys out."

"Well... thanks," he grunted, before turning his attention fully back on the gang members.

As the police officers corralled the troublesome group out of the ER,s waiting area, Hiro joined with the other two.

"Way to go, little man," Wasabi gave Hiro a thumbs up, impressed by the take down earlier. "Is Baymax here?"

"Yeah," Hiro glanced back toward the reception area. He didn't feel like going into the all the colorful details at that moment though. "Left him back in the room they put him in."

The young leader looked around again, deciding what action to take next. He noticed Honey Lemon was sitting in a back corner of the waiting room with her ankle propped up on a small table. She was also supplied with ice packs and an IV drip, as all the rooms were currently full.

"What about Honey Lemon?" The young leader looked at the two.

"The hospital staff was going to mark off part of the waiting room into a makeshift clinic. But then that gang came in." Wasabi started to explain.

Hiro just sighed at that. His lingering regret about Baymax being out of commission still hung over his head.

"She was able to get ahold of her family too. Parents will be by soon," GoGo added, glancing to Hiro.

"You need to check in?" She asked as she held out her cell phone to the younger Hamada.

"Yeah," he took it, only to hesitate a moment afterwards. "Baymax needs some repairs, so... we're gonna need a ride."

Hiro thought he heard Wasabi say 'Yes' under his breath when he said that. "But, um... I'm still not going to take my helmet off in here. I recognized a couple of those guys." The boy nodded in the direction of the group being escorted outside.

"From where?" GoGo wondered.

"Bot fights." He turned his gaze downward, also not wanting to delve deeper into that topic."I'll be in a storage room where they put Baymax. He's deactivated right now."

"What happened to him?" GoGo prompted again.

"He got tazed," his voiced sounded a little pained at that point.

" _Really_? Damn."

"How did that happen?" Wasabi narrowed his brow in concern.

"They freaked out when he started up his defibrillators. Which are in his palms... like Ironman's palm blasters."

"I guess that's why he originally had that non-threatening, huggable design." GoGo crossed her arms, looking at Hiro.

"Shut up," he grumbled, looking down at her phone in his hand. He needed another change of topic, really. "Actually, can you guys keep Honey Lemon company... while I call?"

"Yeah, sure," Wasabi nodded.

"Thanks."

* * *

Hiro first thought about calling Aunt Cass, but then he wondered how she would handle all the news. He sighed, pushing one of the numbers GoGo had on speed dial. He leaned against the doorframe of the storage room, listening to the dial tone.

"Yo, hello!" Fred answered.

"Hey, it's Hiro," he responded, his voice hushed when he spoke his name.

"Alright! Are you guys okay? Heard about the tsunami. The water's gone back down now."

"We got out okay, and made it to the hospital. Honey Lemon's hurt and Baymax is messed up."

"Need a ride?" Fred asked before Hiro had the chance.

"Can you? I dunno if Aunt Cass's truck is okay."

"I can find out. Okay to call you back on GoGo's phone?"

"Yeah," Hiro rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, and if you can find it, bring Baymax's recharge base. The one I upgraded."

"Sure thing, buddy!"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have concluded… Hiro's temperament at times can be fun to play with. *wink*


	7. Chapter 7

 

Electricity wasn't available to all areas of the Institute, mostly to conserve the solar energy cells that were used to power the back-up generators. Fortunately the big, round window in the Hamada lab helped illuminate the room without lights. Being a high tech institute, the buildings also were designed to hold up through an earthquake, or three.

Unfortunately, without power, Hiro still had to take what he needed with him back to Fred's. He also had taken his super suit off before they came, which was good, because their friendly SFIT security guard team was back out in full force. No power also meant no door locks, and a lot more nervous guards.

GoGo leaned on a desk, chewing on a new piece of gum. She reluctantly watched the disgruntled robotics engineer place his brother's ball cap on a still upright cabinet, before lifting the toppled shelf off a pile of various parts on the floor. It was only a month ago that Hiro got Baymax fully functional again, so he still had many spare parts on hand in the event of any malfunctions. But when she tried to help him look, he had barked at her to stop. Hiro was definitely hiding something, the speedster decided. Even though he wasn't very forthright about many things, the genius rarely held back about talking about his projects. This piqued her concern.

"It still doesn't make sense that they tazed Baymax, but not the gang members." The young genius roughly pushed aside a large box on the floor, after dropping some wiring in it. "I mean, how come they didn't have any spare taser guns afterwards?"

He was clearly venting, so GoGo decided to not respond to that question right away. Instead, she just popped her gum, loudly.

"The guy he brought in was obviously in need of help!" Hiro paused, only long enough to scratch his head as he tried to figure out where something else was.

"Totally got to rework his armor. Make it so that it could transform down into a backpack whenever he's somewhere that he HAS to be 'non-threatening'... Like clinics. Recharge platform will also go with him, wherever he goes. I should have done that initially. And if I can modify the rockets, everything will be portable! Why didn't I think of that before..." Hiro was actually starting to run short on his breath, so he stopped talking for a while again.

GoGo sighed, crossing her arms. He was being much more on edge as the day had progressed. But from her past experiences, cornering him about it tended to make his temper flare. It was better to just let him come out with it on his own, if they could help it.

He caught her gaze briefly, as if he noticed her concern, but turned away while shaking his head.

"To be honest," GoGo started after popping another bubble. "I think those asswipes got there about when Baymax arrived. The guards probably jumped to conclusions –"

"But how is that supposed to make it better?" The younger Hamada shot back. "I never took Baymax bot fighting!"

"Wait, what does bot fighting have to do with this?" she stood up to face him. Was that a hint? She really did not expect bot fighting to come up, because all of them thought he was done with that.

"Everything else seems to be my fault, so why not!?" Hiro growled back her, waving a hand in the air.

"I was just pointing out what I noticed at the hospital," GoGo took another step closer, watching him intently. "But it does look like you are hiding something."

"What do you mean?" He returned her intense gaze with his own.

GoGo held her eyes on him, debating on how hard to push now. But since he asked, she felt she had to come out with it. "Just earlier, you told me to stop looking through your stuff. I just wanted to  _help_  you!"

"That was because I really didn't  _need_  your help!" Hiro raised his voice louder, triggering her anger as well.

"Don't be so f-ing  _ridiculous_ , Hiro! The way you're acting... you need help!" She held out her hands to stress her point.

The teen looked at her for a moment before he threw the items he was holding in haste into the box.

"I don't. So  _get out_!" He stepped up to roughly push her toward the door.

"Stop it, Hiro." GoGo gripped his arms and braced against him as she held her ground.

"No,  _leave_!" He still pushed against her with his arms.

"Hiro, stop.  _Stop_." She firmly repeated herself as she looked at younger Hamada, trying to make eye contact. Even though he avoided looking at her, she noticed Hiro's eyes dart to the doorway before he turned away and kicked at some clutter on the floor.

GoGo turned to see Wasabi there at the door, just slightly speechless.

"Why do I keep walking into these?" He asked gingerly. Fred was shadowing behind him in the hall with a look torn between amusement and surprise.

"Lover's spat?" Fred boldly teased her.

"Don't.. go there," GoGo shot him a look, then walked out of the lab and closed the door behind her. She didn't want to stop and think about how much the others knew about her and Hiro, behind her back.

"Something's got him worked up," she sighed.

"No joke." Wasabi leaned on the cabinet size 3D printer sitting on a hand cart, something that Hiro requested from downstairs.

"How long should we wait?" Fred glanced back toward the Hamada lab, showing more concern about the situation. He held a box that contained sealed jugs of chemicals, along with Honey Lemon's chem-ball purse. Even though she couldn't be with them to help, she gave her teammates some formulas they could use in any future rescues that day.

"Five minutes," GoGo checked her phone, before pocketing it again. That should be long enough for Hiro to cool off, before they approached him again. It was early in the afternoon, and quite frankly, she was also starving. No doubt the others had to be just as hungry too since they had been going non-stop since this morning. "I got some energy bars back in my desk at the lab. We should grab some before going."

"Can't argue with that!" Fred grinned.

* * *

_What's wrong with me?_

Hiro paused to one side of his lab trying to clear the swirl of angry thoughts from his brain.

_Why did I start yelling at her like that? Why does she make me so mad? I like her... why do we fight so much?_

_Did I just tell her I was bot fighting…?_

The last two thoughts hit him with more guilt and the younger Hamada groaned in disgust with himself. Hiro took a few steps over to sit at his darkened computer desk in a defeated heap. He closed his eyes as he held his head in his hands, trying to push out those thoughts of despair again.

What bothered him most was his loss of control over his temper, his mood swings, and sudden bouts of anxiety. Why is it plaguing him now? What is he doing differently? Why?

_No.. It's not her. It's me... she just triggers it. Not only fiery explosions trigger it, but so do earthquakes. And Baymax. And... angry hospital guards._

_How the frag am I supposed to be a good leader if I keep freaking out?_

He gritted his teeth and turned away from the desk on his swivel chair. Anything that involved fire and explosions were self-explanatory. PTSD. The first time he experienced it on a noticeable level, it was when they were helping the kids out of the burning orphanage a few weeks ago.

The earthquakes? That was a whole different thing. They have always freaked him out, for as long as he could remember. All those what-if rumors about the next big one from the San Andreas dragging the whole state of California into the ocean had never made it easy for him to sleep many nights after every earthquake they had. Tadashi thought he was just getting too much into those crazy doomsday reports. He couldn't help it. If they weren't so unpredictable, and so devastating, he might have had an easier time dealing with the shakers.

But this time, it was the first earthquake without his brother. No one else really knew about his little fear of them. That, coupled with everything else, it's a wonder he wasn't any worse today.

_Everything's just been so damn unpredictable. It's the unknown variables that make it hard –_

His thoughts were cut short by Fred's sudden voice over comm-link.  _"Heathcliff, the natives are getting restless. Prepare to pick us up ASAP!"_ __  
  
Hiro took that as clue to stop sulking and hurry up with finding the rest of the parts he needed.

* * *

Wasabi slid the lab door open again, telling the security guard that had followed them back up to not worry. They will be leaving. "Hey," he walked in first. "Everything good now, little man?"

"Maybe," came the muttered response. Hiro was sitting cross-legged on the floor by one of the box of parts he was going to take. He looked up from the smaller container full of fuses he was sorting through to acknowledge the two.

"Peace offering?" GoGo squatted down to give him a bag of gummies that she knocked out of the vending machine earlier (much to the guard's chagrin) and his favorite energy drink (that she took from him the day before).

Hiro looked over to her, then the gummy bears and the can, before taking them. "Sorry."

"S'kay," a smile played on her lips when she punched the nerd. "We're a team, and looking out for each other is what we do."

"Like now, we gotta roll. The guards are getting fed up with us being here." Wasabi remained in the doorway.

"Go ahead, we'll catch up." Hiro told him and just put the whole container of fuses in the box to pick through later. "Still gotta grab a couple more things."

Another short but jerky tremor hit, just as he and GoGo were picking up the boxes. Hiro ungracefully lost his balance and fell into GoGo. But as they were helping each other up, she noticed how clingy he was for a moment, and then he suddenly felt the need to tell her something.

"Sorryearthquakestotallyfreakmeout." The sentence was exhaled in one breath as a barely audible confession.

GoGo paused to look at him, before straightening up with her box again. "What was that?"

Her eyes met his, noticing that fleeting moment of anxiety, maybe even indecision, in what he wanted to say. "Earthquakes.. freak me out." Hiro told her, more slowly now.

"Earthquakes freak you out," She repeated as she kept her face unreadable, even though his reaction was so adorkable. She did appreciate what he was trying to say, but it also felt like a lame cover for something even more concerning.

"That's what's been bothering me." Hiro tried to explain as he picked up his box.

"Focus. Overcome. There is no illusion greater than fear." The speedster quoted as they walked into the hallway.

"It's not that simple!"

"Hey, do you want that to be your problem forever, or not?" She reasoned, only because she saw that Hiro at least had that determination to become better. Wasabi, on the other hand, he was so wrapped up in his OCD ways that it seemed like he would never get over his issues.

Hiro sighed audibly, getting her point as he followed behind. "Just.. don't tell anyone else."

GoGo volleyed another comeback for him, just because she felt he needed the reality check. "Hey, it's not like half the people in San Fransokyo are  _also_  scared shitless. Woman up, nerd boy. We're on a mission."

He was silent for another beat, most likely realizing she was putting the initial wish he had earlier right back into his mouth. That was to go back out and help look for others in the hardest hit areas. "Right."

* * *

The four of them sat facing each other on the leather covered seats in the passenger compartment of the black and gold Sikorsky S-76 helicopter. The deflated Baymax and his nested armor was stacked up on the seat next to the window to make room for the three large boxes of supplies sitting in the space in between their knees.

Hiro was still secretly fascinated by the helicopter, even though he also felt guilty at the same time for having easy access to such luxurious transport when so many other people in the city were struggling to get out.

"Okay, from the top again," Wasabi wanted to make sure their next steps were clearly stated. "Once we get to Fred's, Hiro is going to fix up Baymax. While he's doing that, we check out the news and reports to see which hard hit areas to go to next."

"And eat!" Fred interjected.

"Correct," Hiro said, glancing warily from Fred back to Wasabi. He took another gulp from his energy drink, thinking of anything else. "Might have to split up if we need too."

"I just have one question..." Fred paused in devouring his second protein bar to finally address a detail that had been bugging him. "My suit's not exactly equipped to do rescues, buddy. We were just trained to fight crime."

"Yeah, I realized that," Hiro scratched his head. "All of us need more upgrades to our suits, actually." Already, he was mentally listing what he needed to do to everyone's suits to better accommodate them for earthquake search and rescue work.

A few minutes passed before they finally landed on a concrete helipad adjacent to the detached hanger style garage apart from the Lee mansion. They unload and carry everything across the green manicured lawns back toward the house.

"Seriously, how come your place doesn't even look like there's been a gazillion earthquakes today?" Wasabi had to ask, once they got inside. Nothing looked out if place and the lights were operational.

"I guess it's also earthquake proof?" Fred mused. "That, or Heathcliff had started supergluing everything down. Just because are training sessions are that intense."

"Why do I find that last statement believable?" GoGo glanced at Wasabi.

"Why are you lookin' at me?" The big guy tried to feign innocence on that count.

"It could also be that there's this abandoned subterranean SHIELD base under the mansion." Fred shrugged, like it was nothing important.

"Uhm, what?"

"You were waiting until now to tell us this?" GoGo set her box down to look at him.

"Not exactly. Just a matter of circumstance." Fred turned stopped to open another door. "I just found out myself a month ago. My Dad's retired, so you know... he just doesn't use it anymore."

The others just exchanged glances, otherwise giving Fred that opportunity to seize the moment.

"But. I'm sure we could!"

"Is... that okay?" GoGo thought to ask.

"Should be..." Fred shrugged. "Remember that when I told him we were starting up a new superhero team, he said he would be glad to help if we needed anything."

Hiro suddenly found himself conflicted. He had to stay on track about getting Baymax repaired, but he also wanted to check this intriguing new place out. Maybe they could use it like a lab. "Is it powered with generators too?"

"We can find out!" Fred beamed, before turning to show them the way to where the hidden entrance was.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much happened action wise this chapter, because I wanted to hit on more character development again. I like playing with the fact that Hiro is not much of a people person (kind of like me). I won't say anti-social though. It looks like he just has a hard time opening up about what is really bugging him, especially if it meant making others worry.
> 
> And yes, more revealing truths are making themselves known. ;D
> 
> Please review, I like to know what you think! Things are only going to get more interesting with each chapter... A slow build, but it's getting there! :)


	8. Chapter 8

 

After stepping out of the small elevator into a dark passageway, a secret passage cleverly hidden in the most inconceivable place (through a sliding door in the large marble shower stall of one of the guest master baths), they approached a heavy door that was dimly lit from the glow of a rectangular box on the wall next to it.

"At least it wasn't the toilet closet," GoGo remarked to Wasabi, who was still shocked by the location of the secret entrance. Fred showed them by turning the hot and cold water handles at the same time, but in the opposite direction from normal use, to make the shower wall slide away.

"Ooh, now being flushed down a chute would be totally radical. No one would ever guess that!" Fred laughed at that notion, flashing his cell phone's torch light around at them before redirecting it back to the hallway.

"But knowing you, Freddie... they probably would." GoGo sighed, shifting the weight of the box she was carrying in her arms.

"Hopefully the need for the use of this bunker would not be when someone was taking a shower," Wasabi shook his head.

Hiro laughed lightly at that mention, the more he thought about Wasabi's point. "Yes. Yes, that... would be awkward."

Ahead of them was a faint glow coming from a small box next to a larger frame. Fred shined his light on it to see where to swipe his security pass. It had unlocked, to reveal something that looked like a view finder. It was actually for the retinal scan. His dad went ahead and set him up to have clearance if and when the need arose.

"Just like that," Fred gestured as the door slid open. "Wa-la!"

"Looks solid... Was it originally a fall-out shelter from the 1950's?" Hiro wondered. He pushed the cart full of Baymax to one side, inside the compound.

"Probably," Fred shone his light around inside, trying to remember where everything was again. "Totally quake proof too."

"If you had LEDs lighting up the scanner by the entry, it has to have something powering this too. Like if you got solar or turbine fueled generators feeding into this." Hiro thought out loud as he ventured along the dark walls of the compound to look for a switch panel or closet panel.

"Found it!" Fred announced, opening the panel at the other side to access the switches.

The fluorescent lights flickered on overhead and slowly grew brighter to illuminate a large room divided into a few different areas. There was a lounge area, then a conference table, both looking rather dated. A full color panel of the world hung on one wall. But the other side of the compound was more high tech in design. There were also various types of computer machinery and monitors lining one wall. The others put down their boxes and equipment to also look around the area.

Like a moth to a flame, Hiro was first to approach the console area with monitors to figure out their purpose. "So the SHIELD organization is basically secret agents for super heroes and villains, right?" He asked no one in particular.

"Yup," Fred nodded, walking over to look at one of the locker compartments by the lounge area. "I wonder if any spy stuff is still here."

It didn't take long for Hiro, with the help of GoGo and Wasabi, to find the way to turn on the computers. The monitors flickered to life, displaying log-in screens.

"Did you get the pass-codes to this too?" GoGo thumbed back at it while looking at Fred.

"Yeah, gimme a minute," he trotted over to where they were. The fanboy accessed the main panel and typed in a series of letters and numbers. "What's awesome about this is that there's access to surveillance cameras around the city. We have a couple personal satellites too that are still active."

"Really?" Hiro stared at the monitors, as the systems loaded, then at Fred for another second, then back at the monitors again.

Fred grinned, just imagining what was formulating in his young friend's head now. He knew this place would become a goldmine of usefulness for them, not just a place of refuge.

"And SHIELD really is okay with this? Everything is still here, so you think if they were totally pulled out, they would have taken their tech with them." Wasabi asked again. He knew how Fred tended to operate, so there was always that moment of disbelief from the team when he presented new opportunities like this.

"They left it here as a 'just in case', a fall back, if something happened to an active base," Fred said, flopping into a padded leather chair.

"So there is still that possibility they may want it back," GoGo looked at him with a sideways glance.

"Yes... they might." Fred pursed his lips, raising a finger to rest on his chin in thought. "But I'm sure my Dad'll take care of it if that ever happens."

GoGo popped her gum, then shook her head.

"But... we can totally use this stuff, especially to check on how hard hit different parts of the city is…" Hiro found the applications and looked over the different icons and lists of the areas that he could access. "Of course, provided that the cameras are still active and not damaged from the earthquake."

"Well, somewhere, there's a television hook up to monitor news reports. And yeah, a feed into the police radio for any hot fresh news!" He stood up to step over the monitors again, since they were asking so many questions.

"I think this is it," Wasabi was looking at another monitor that had a series of icons for each of the television stations in San Fransokyo. He clicked on one, which started a video player with streaming feed of the news coming through about the earthquake. Then they brought up a couple more stations to see if they are covering different stations.

"Oh, and this," Fred leaned over to tap numbers on the video windows. Two of the videos switched to play in different monitor screens apart from each other.

"Awesome, man... now that's better," Wasabi nodded. Now it was easier to watch without the audio having to compete with each other. He was never a fan of having more than two things going on at once, but this was a necessity.

"Hey, does this have access to the cameras on Akuma Island?" Hiro asked, his eyes still focused intently on the screens.

"If you can find them, then yes. Yes, it does." Fred stood back. He looked over his shoulder when Heathcliff walked in with a banquet cart. "Ooh, refreshments!"

There was a platter heaping with submarine sandwiches of various types, individual serving size bags of chips, and below, cans of pop, and a bowl of apples and oranges. Fred scooped up one of the sandwiches, pointing to it. "You gotta try this one. It's got the filling like a California Roll - crabmeat, cukes, and avocado. Delish!"

"Thank you, Heathcliff," Wasabi nodded to the never-tiring butler, before picking up on of the sandwiches. GoGo followed suit, also thanking Heathcliff.

Hiro had shifted his focus from the surveillance cameras to the monitors with the news reels. News channels were catching the roving reporters, of these involved some of the gangs and other people attempting to loot grocery and department stores now to get more food and supplies.

"They have got to be kidding me!" GoGo also noticed, when Hiro turned up the volume. "As if the emergency responders aren't having a hard enough time already... now they gotta do that!"

"It's the primal instinct of mobs, just like in those survival video games. As soon as the sun sets and if you don't have your house secured, they'll move in and grief your place." Fred shook his finger at the screen while watching.

Wasabi just looked at him, a little confused to how that related to the news at hand.

"Minecraft mobs," Hiro briefly stated. "With no power or no order... it becomes survival of the fittest." Of course, the boy genius would know what he was talking about, since he was also a gamer. He didn't have any more to add though, as he was further distracted by other responsibilities again. The younger Hamada grabbed a sandwich before going over to the cart with Baymax.

"So, that's our first location to address," GoGo crossed her arms as she watched the screens. "Anything else?"

"More collapsed buildings on the south side," Wasabi pointed to another screen.

"Yeah," she nodded, but was distracted by her phone chiming. All of their phones had.

"It's Honey," Fred was looking at his phone, to read the messages. She had them all included in a group chat. "She's finally out of the hospital. Knee's sprained, no breaks, but her ankle was broken."

"I'm telling her to stay home with her family," GoGo was texting back on her phone.

"Too bad," Fred sighed, texting his well wishes also.

[HLemon] You guys are so sweet! :D

[Kaiju] We will do our best to sling ur balls!  
[Kaiju] Wait... that didn't sound right

[HLemon] lol  
[HLemon] Is everyone else okay? Where are you now?

[Kaiju] we're good. everyone is at my place. I have power. Especially since they kicked us out of the labs at SFIT

[HLemon] wow.. whatever, works... right?  
[HLemon] Hiro okay? He was getting edgy again earlier - I saw him take down a 6 foot guy like it was nothing!

[Kaiju] yeah, he was not himself after the lucky cat got shaken up really bad

[HLemon] Oh no! Is Aunt Cass okay?

[Kaiju] yeah, I stayed with her. We helped take care of every1 inside until the fireppl came. The house has a lot of damage thou.

[Kaiju] Havent told him that there's a wall missing on his side of his room yet

[HLemon] oh wow, No! That is not good! Aunt Cass is going to be out of business for awhile  
[HLemon] Does she have a place to stay?

[Kaiju] she's welcome to stay here :D

[GoGoTomago] Or not. Wasabi also added his place is close to the lucky cat.

[HLemon] I gotta make sure to tell Hiro how much I appreciate him coming to help the next time I see him.

[GoGoTomago] Hiro started zoning out during the rescue too. Not as bad as the orphanage fire, but he was getting a LOT more temperamental this time.

[Kaiju] that explains... that

[GoGoTomago] shut up Fred

[GoGoTomago] He's more calm now - wasn't happy with the hospital at all

[Kaiju] PTSD again?

[GoGoTomago] Maybe

[HLemon] Is Baymax also going to be okay?

[GoGoTomago] Hiro seems to think so

[Kaiju] Currently doing open heart surgery, then the big guy will be back in the game

[GoGoTomago] Heading back out again soon

[HLemon] You guys can do this. I have faith in you!

[Kaiju] we'll miss you!

Wasabi sighed, looking away from the monitor screens and otherwise getting annoyed of the buzzing of his phone from their texts. "Okay guys, how are we going to approach this? If we are splitting up, we definitely need a plan!"

"I think that greatly depends on whether Hiro can get Baymax operational." GoGo looked over to him. "How's it look?"

The robotics engineer had already split open Baymax's vinyl covering to expose a block of metallic bars and hydraulics. There were dark scorch marks on a couple places too.

"Going to swap out the battery... once I get to it," Hiro stood up to grab a couple more tools and his tablet laptop from one of the boxes.

"Need any help?" Fred asked his friend, squatting down on the floor to look at the naked, block shaped robot. He couldn't help but wonder if Baymax would find this embarrassing with everyone looking at him this way.

It was then he noticed how GoGo gave him that Look, like he said or did something he should not have again, which caused him to furrow his brow wondering just what. Asking about help? She surely could not have read his mind about a naked Baymax. He decided to ignore her that time since Hiro did not look bothered.

"Um, yeah. I need to run some diagnostics. Can you watch it?" Hiro gave Fred his laptop to hold, before turning back to lift the other battery from the cardboard box. Fred nodded, rocking back to sit cross-legged, even though he wasn't entirely sure what he should look for.

At that point though, Hiro straightened up to explain to the others what his plan of attack was. "What I'm thinking is for Fred and I to go with Baymax to get the looting under control, and then GoGo and Wasabi can go to the places hardest hit by the earth quakes." He looked to GoGo briefly, "And you can take Honey Lemon's chem-ball purse, the both of you using the helicopter to get in and out."

Wasabi liked this idea for unspoken reasons, nodding in agreement. GoGo, for some reason, did not.

"Shouldn't Baymax be with us, since we need him to find and take care of the injured?" GoGo asked the boy wonder.

"Baymax would be better at getting the crowds under control. Just his presence can be enough." Hiro simply told her. Aside from the fact he just preferred being with the robot.

"Wasabi is just as capable at doing that," GoGo reasoned, stepping closer to Hiro and Fred. Wasabi looked back over to them at the mention of his name.

"Well, he's also more comfortable flying in the helicopter than on Baymax," Hiro lowered his voice while stressing that point. His last statement was barely audible, "And maybe, I shouldn't be with you.. this time."

She was silent for a beat before answering. "Fine," the Korean clicked her tongue and stepped back from him.

Fred pretended he didn't hear that, resisting the urge to look to see how much the teen's statement bothered her. Those two had been stepping on each other's toes a lot more lately. He sighed, glancing at the strings of code stream by on the laptop screen. Hiro never wanted to talk about it, so the mascot could only assume that maybe their feelings for each other are starting to conflict with their roles for the team.

Then Hiro paused, looking at the other upgraded case for Baymax that they brought. "Wait... I have both of Baymax's visors here! I can use his old visor to retro fit one for you, Wasabi."

"You can do that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I'll try, where's your shades?" Hiro looked to Wasabi, then briefly at the 3D printer. "I can make a helmet for you to put the tech in, like the nuerotransmitter, then I'll wire the output to display on your specs."

"Hah, sounds like a plan." Wasabi handed his green safety glasses to him. "It's not going to be hard for me to figure out, is it?"

"It shouldn't be." Hiro took them, walking over to Fred where his tools were. "Yeah, and Fred... I can rig your suit to spit the chem-balls instead."

Fred was still holding the laptop Hiro gave him from earlier. "Hey, sounds cool… event though actually spitting pink foam might be crazier."

"Right…."

"And um, your disks, GoGo... I had an idea to make them like a shield - Like Captain America's. If we can find a lighter, stronger metal later, I can magnetize the four disks to also make one shield to wear on your back, whenever you don't need the disks."

Naturally, Fred found this subliminal comparison of GoGo to Captain America to be amusing. She did throw her disks in the same manner too.

"I can work on getting the disks to combine with what we have, Hiro," GoGo insisted. "You still have Baymax to fix first."

"Absolutely," Hiro turned around to face his work area, where Fred sat. "Just wanted to make sure we knew what we were doing first."

"Oh, Heathcliff?" Fred called to his butler, suddenly remembering something. "Can you bring down my superhero Kaiju suit, for Hiro here?"

"Yes sir," the butler nodded before turning to go upstairs.

"Is it still running?" the younger Hamada asked the bored red-head.

"I think," Fred straightened up from his slouch. "There's a percentage on top here that says 87%."

Hiro nodded, popping out some of the metallic rods to access the core CPU that contained the battery, processors, and access port. He used a screw driver to carefully pry the cover off to get inside.

"That part look okay?" Fred leaned over to get a better look.

"Yeah."

Fred's phone started ringing, playing the chorus line from an old Katy Perry song.

"... _dancing through the fire. Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me ROAR!_ _Louder, louder than a lion_ _,_ _cause I am—"_

Hiro looked over to Fred, almost glaring at him, for having such a tacky selection of music for his ringtone now.

"Yeah, Hiro's here. We're fine Aunt Cass. Well, except for Honey Lemon - her ankle is broken..."

_"Oh my, that's not good news. I hope she is somewhere safe with her family now."_

"Yeah. Yeah, she's okay now, staying with her family."

_"Where are you now? Did everyone get something to eat too?"_

"Yep. We're at my house, making repairs and upgrades. Going to head back out afterwards."

_"Okay, I see. Can I talk to Hiro?"_

"Sure." Fred held his phone out to Hiro. "It's Aunt Cass."

"Katy Perry... Really?" The younger Hamada whispered as he took the phone.

"You gotcha!" Fred pointed both of his fingers at Hiro with a wink and a smile.

"Hey Aunt Cass," he greeted, only to fall silent as she spoke for some time.

"Yeah, uhm... I should be okay staying at Fred's, if you are okay with it. So you're going to your friend's house instead? ... Okay, I'll let them know you got a place to go."

Fred watched Hiro's face grew solemn, listening to her. It probably was another small lecture on how much she worried about him and wished for him to be safe. It was times like this he wished they hadn't told her about their superheroing endeavors now. But what could they do? The police had this unexpected intention to take him to the station, after Hiro had made the bold decision to stay with Abigail until the paramedics arrived.

"Yes, yes I will, Aunt Cass. We'll be careful. …. Don't worry. I'll call when we get back, okay? ... Yeah, okay. I love you.. always ... Bye."

At that, Fred decided the mood needed to be changed again. And, because that song was stuck in his head now.

"Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, I earned my stripes—"

"No…"

"So I went from zero, to my own hero.. and you're gonna-" Fred dodged a screwdriver hurled at him, but did not stop. "Hear me ROAR! Oh, oh, oh, oooh, ooh! You're gonna hear me roar!"

"For the love of…" Hiro continued grumbling.

"Fredrick Lee… seriously," Wasabi also added his sentiments, before GoGo physically made him shut up.

"Hah! No." Fred sassed back. "It's totally our theme song!"

"Is not! I said the 'Eye of the Tiger', by  _Survivor,"_  Hiro countered. "Big difference!"

"But that's like my Dad's music," Fred furrowed his brow.

"Aunt Cass's music is better?" Hiro grimaced, showing his gap tooth frown in disapproval.

Fred pouted to tease him.

* * *

"You sure this is going to work?" The stout man in a khaki jumpsuit said to his comrade as they walked.

"If the boss believes it would, it's what we do."

"I could think of better ways to get the attention he wants, though." The taller Japanese woman following them complained in suit.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for gangster fights, martial arts violence, and vulgar language.

 

_And I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb_

_And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come_

_All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love_

_Yes I know (yes I know), yeah, I know…_

_"Can't Feel My Face" The Weeknd_

* * *

The other two boys had left a few minutes earlier on Baymax, leaving Wasabi and GoGo to load the last of the gear and supplies for the rescues into the helicopter. They told them to go on as it was getting later than expected in the afternoon.

Ever since walking into that heated argument earlier at SFIT, Wasabi was reminded again about his growing concern about GoGo. He couldn't help but notice something more going on between her and Hiro. Now just seemed to be the best time since they were together and finally alone, for once. With the semester coming to a close, the amount of time the two of them had to meet and prepare for new ideas for the team's training sessions were further in between. After the failed training session from Thursday, it became more apparent about how much more on edge Hiro was, which in turn was not really helping GoGo. Yes, even though the studious trainer did well in putting aside his more intimate thoughts, he still felt obligated to look out for her as a friend. Besides Honey Lemon, who else would? Fred was just, well, too naïve and possibly also reluctant to ask her for want of not getting beat up. And Hiro, he would almost be the same, if it wasn't for the fact that he also struggled with knowing how to be social.

"Couldn't help but notice how much you're clashing with Hiro lately. Something going on?" He finally asked her, making eye contact with the black and yellow speedster.

GoGo held his concerned gaze for a beat, working her jaw in thought.

"It's just that I'm worried about him." Her answer was brief as she dropped the coil of rope in the helicopter.

Wasabi sighed at her curtness, trying to think of a better approach as he organized the placement of all the equipment in the small space of the helicopter. Her temperament was something else, and there were times he did not think he could ever get that figured out. His only reassurance was that Gogo wasn't as much of a hothead as she had been before. All that the quantum physicist did know was that he wasn't her 'favorite challenge' anymore. She told him earlier that her fascination with him was just a physical one, which was what had led to an intense make-out session after one of their planning meetings. He practically joked it was the Law of Attraction getting the better of them, coupled with the fact that she made for a interesting study in sexual energy.

A couple weeks later GoGo called it off, however, with a short apology that she didn't mean for that to happen. The reason she gave him sounded petty, that she decided it would be better as a team if they didn't get so romantically involved with each other. Of course, he couldn't really argue with that. Too many feelings could and would affect their better judgement in a time of crisis. All of which could explain some of her anger on the other two last Thursday. He had imagined she was embarrassed on his behalf about the boys, who apparently were also flirting with her.

Regardless of that and the fact that his obsessive personality was too much for her, there was that undeniable reality that the fiesty engineer had become emotionally involved with Hiro, otherwise contradicting what she told him. Just the way GoGo would dodge his questions like this made that clear to Wasabi.

"Just 'worried'? You do know he's only fourteen," Wasabi turned around to level with her, his expression clearly serious.

GoGo noticed his tone, and in turn gave him a look that indicated her understanding on the matter and didn't appreciate it. "Yes. Just  _worried."_

"Only worried?"

"He's relapsing! You saw how Hiro was after the gas exploded in his face!" Her voice became more intense as she looked up to him.

"True, that. But I think you need to give him more breathing room." Wasabi may have acted like he didn't hear what Hiro told her earlier, but the teen's request spoke volumes to him.

"Seriously?" She scowled.

He returned her harsh glare, crossing his arms in response.

"You still haven't gotten over it... us," Gogo turned away with a huff.

"Woman, I have! But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop worrying about you!" Wasabi pointed at her.

She stopped to look at him, reluctantly.

"Okay, I know this'll sound strange coming from me… but GoGo, you  _have_  to let Hiro learn from his mistakes – that's the only way he will learn. Have more faith in him."

"What makes you say  _that?_  You know as well as I do if you give that kid an inch, he'll take a mile. He's so  _reckless!"_  she shook her finger at him.

And Wasabi knew that she had a problem with accepting the idea of a kid telling all of them what to do. As well as that other thing. "It's the way you never seem to cut him any slack by questioning his every move. It's like you're afraid he's going to end up the same way as Tadashi."

She continued to hold her unsettled gaze up at him, her arms still crossed. "Are you?"

"It's crossed my mind, when I'm not fearing for my  _own_  life," his response was short of sarcastic. But the way she had turned the tables again bothered him more.

"What's bothering you, really?" he stepped closer to her, trying to keep his tone controlled and level so this also didn't turn into a shouting match.

Gogo sighed, looking at him then at the floor. "It's not what you think."

Wasabi imagined she meant her not so pretty past, before coming to SFIT. He reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, and gestured with his other hand to stress his point. "What I do know is that Hiro's past – well, everything after his brother's accident – is still affecting all of us. But since you spend so much time trying to help Hiro, I'm worried that's taking its toll on you."

"You think so?"

"Honey and I both, actually," his eyes were intent on hers.

Gogo was silent as she thought out her next course of action. "Say what you want, but Hiro is in over his head.. and hiding something," she put her hand on his for a moment, before taking his hand off her shoulder and turning away to get back to their task on hand.

"Yes, I know," Wasabi sighed in agreement. "He's been stressing over both of his projects, the budgeting and deadlines. The school also told him to apply for a grant, but it hasn't– "

Gogo abruptly swore under her breath, cutting him short.

"You okay?"

"Nothing," her answer was just as terse, keeping her back to the physicist until she got a good grip on the case of flares. He heard an audible sigh before the speedster turned around with it.

"Hiro's bot fighting again," she decided to tell him.

Wasabi just gave her a confused look as he tried to take the case from her. She declined his offer, and hefted them into the helicopter herself.

"That's what he's hiding," Gogo explained as she put a hand on her hip.

"I thought he swore off of that," he said while moving the flares to a different spot.

"Apparently not," she shook her head. "Back at the lab, Hiro blurted out something about not using Baymax to bot fight… which did not make sense at the time."

"Why would he now?" Wasabi prompted. It was more of a question to hear her side of the story, because his obvious assumption was that the young genius now had a plethora of arsenal to make new robots at SFIT. It would be a hard temptation to not give into.

"He must need the money."

Wasabi swore out loud as he also connected the dots.

"Exactly," Gogo looked around real quick, then stepped toward the helicopter. "Let's talk about this later. Starting to get late!"

"Of course," Wasabi flipped down his enhanced visor on his new green helmet before hopping inside. He alerted Heathcliff also that they were finally ready.

"Y'know, you wouldn't have that supped up visor if I didn't say something," Gogo punched him as she felt the need to remind him of that fact. Of course, he was still trying to get used to the helmet in itself. He opted out of one before because it made for an uncomfortably tight fit with his dreads also squeezed inside. But after having a ceiling fall on his head, he was more willing to deal with how the helmet fit.

* * *

The other three superheroes regrouped in an alley near the lower side of downtown. Clearly this was where the more shadier side met with the commerce district, and otherwise a very likely hotspot where the police weren't able to keep up.

"Basically, we just go into the shops that aren't barred, flush out any people inside, and then put up a impermeable barrier to keep others out," Hiro explained his plan of attack to his robot and the kaiju. "But if we come across any who are actually trapped and hurt, yeah… help them out and administer first aid."

Fred held his costume's mouth open while he spoke. "And then, if they are actually making off with the stuff, give them the superzilla  _smackdown!"_

"About like that," Hiro nodded, his eyes shifting between them and the street. After much deliberation, Fred finally was given permission to wear Honey Lemon's 'magical' purse inside his suit, after demonstrating that he had memorized the key codes for the small assortment of Chem-balls they planned to use. The other condition was that he also had to temporarily disable his fire breathing apparatus.

"Gotta place more attention on places with pharmaceuticals and alcohol too."

"That stuff isn't under lock n key already?" Fredzilla queried .

"Can't be too sure what they had time to do after the earthquake," Hiro sighed. "Baymax, scan each store to check if anyone is inside."

The big red robot looked at Hiro, showing understanding.

"Okay, let's go!"

The three moved out to take in the situation up and down the narrow street. The police were down at one end, so Hiro pointed they go the opposite.

"We are apprehending the ones who are stealing... for the police," Baymax also felt the need to remind them.

"Correct," Hiro nodded.

"Scan complete. Building clear." The response came as Baymax already checked the one they were next too. It really wasn't a store though.

After a few blocks down, and a couple rescued cats later, Fred spotted someone running in fright from a corner convenience store.

The two entered first into the store, stepping around the small boxes and containers from the shelves littering the floor. Hiro told Baymax to stay outside to stand guard and keep more from coming inside.

"Unhand your deplorable items, and depart!" the blue kaiju bellowed at the group of badly dressed punks who were squabbling over the electronic cigarette products.

"Aww, you hafta be kidding me!" One just started laughing. "Halloween was over last month, kid!"

"Oh no! Barney's f'king ugly cousin is sooo threatening! I'm scared!" a stocky guy with a bald head and tattoos all over his shoulders had put his hands on his cheeks to mock them.

"Are you gonna cooperate, or are you going to wish the cops stopped you instead?" the boy hero warned the group, placing his hands on his hips.

"Define 'cooperate'," a medium-built man with a beanie and a scraggly goatee from behind the others stepped forward while brandishing a darkened silver handgun. He aimed it at the two of them, waving it back and forth indeterminately.

At that, the other punks with their stash took off down a different isle on the assumption their leader was going to keep the two busy.

"Cuz if that means to leave… well, your wish is granted," the surly man laughed, keeping his gun trained on Hiro's head. "Now what're you gonna do?"

"I _got it…go after 'em, Katsu_ ," Hiro whispered to his comm while the man was talking to him. The smoked mirror tint on his helmet kept the punk from really seeing his face, or the kind of cunning expression he held. " _Baymax'll cover me._ "

At that, Fred took off after the ones who were whooping and hollering as they vacated the place. The man shifted his sights on the kaiju, but didn't shoot or take chase.

"Please..." Hiro dropped to his knees, hoping this would keep the looter's attention, as he nervously raised his hands in surrender.

"Wishing you stayed with your mommy now?" The man laughed as he took a step closer to the boy.

"Just.. don't shoot," he pleaded.

The man smiled even more sadistically, taking another step closer, the gun still trained on the kid. "Why would you say that?"

"Be _cause_!" Hiro suddenly sprung up into action to quickly wrest the gun out of the punk's grip. As he did, his magnetics held fast to the weapon, and somehow, whether he grabbed it wrong or the man managed to squeeze the trigger, it still discharged. Hiro did not feel the hit at first, but he didn't have time to think about it. His adrenaline was surging as he grabbed the man's wrists to pull him forward while at the same time leaping up to stomp kick the man's feet out from under him. The disarmed punk found himself on his stomach, now cussing a string of obscenities only a sailor would be proud of.

"Wow, does your mama know you cuss like that?" the teen asked as he held onto an arm and twisted it up behind, while pressing the barrel of the gun into the punk's back. The gun was only to keep him still. Hiro's finger wasn't on the trigger, and he hoped the man was too distracted to realize the fingers on his gloves were too big for him to be able to shoot the gun. "Stay down!"

As if on queue, Baymax was next to Hiro and ready to assist. "I heard a gun shot," was all he said to the young superhero.

"Zip ties," Hiro told his robot, afraid to let go of the struggling man until he was secured. Baymax quickly pulled out a couple of the plastic stripes from his fingertip, and the teen finally set the gun to one side so he could bind the looter's hands. "Take this one out front for the police, Baymax."

"You are bleeding. You will need to apply pressure to your wound to control it." The healthcare robot told Hiro, all while startling the punk by how easily he was lifted up to his feet by Baymax.

"Just take him up front, Baymax," Hiro repeated. He really did not feel like discussing his injury in front of the one they had just apprehended. All he knew was that it wasn't a lethal shot. His left armpit by his pectoral muscle where the bullet grazed began to throb with pain.

Just a flesh wound, he told himself again, looking at the silver and black revolver in his gloved hand. The last thing he wanted to do was dwell on his mortality.

The young superhero spied a long black scarf by one of the aisle end caps on his way out, and snapped it off the hook. He carefully put the gun on the floor and pulled off his gloves so he could wrap the fabric around the top part of his chest, over his wound. Before running outside to help Fred, Hiro quickly picked up the gun and his gloves. But he was stopped in his tracks when he saw a shaken up man standing up slowly from behind the front counter.

"You okay?" the boy in blue stopped to ask. It looked like the store clerk had been knocked out. Hiro took the moment to set the gun on the counter and get his gloves back on.

"I think so," the clerk looked down at the gun, then around the place as he worked his jaw.

"That's the shoplifter's gun.. just gonna leave it here. But don't worry, sir, we took care of the guys who came in." He stepped up to usher the older man from the store. "I can also secure the place to keep more out."

"You did? …you can? Oh, okay?" the clerk blinked and followed after.

" _Did you get 'em_?" Hiro called out on his comm-link to Fred.

" _You betcha! These Chem-balls are so awesome! A couple got away, but the rest aren't going anywhere._ "

" _We're out. Seal it up!_ "

Fred had bounded in place right next to Hiro on the sidewalk outside, otherwise giving both the younger Hamada and the store clerk a start.

"Oh, here you go," the colorful kaiju held out the shopping bags full of stolen items to the older man. "That's the stuff they took."

The clerk took the bags from the creature's claws, still appearing quite confused about this whole ordeal with these two.

"Now, stand back!" Fred then spat a couple of balls that coated the glass panes on one side, hardening the surface. Then he stepped around the corner to the other side to repeat the process. Honey Lemon explained it was a unique type of resin that would also quickly liquefy only after a different chemical was sprayed on it. Just in case the store owner and the authorities asked about how to regain access.

As they were doing that, Baymax secured the remaining looters to a sturdy light pole with some rope. Fredzilla did a double take at Hiro, after noticing the scarf. "Aw dude, you got shot?"

"It's nothing.. serious…" Hiro exaggerated the truth on how he really felt, looking down to his left while lifting his arm a little. "Apart from needing to train more with live guns that fire paintballs… or something." It did hurt when he moved his left arm, and the pressure the scarf created made it throb worse. Baymax kept giving him concerned looks too. He sighed and made the gesture that they should keep going up the road.

They did not go far before they came to a sporting goods store that was connected to a string of other stores as part of an urban mall. A few people were going in and out, and this area was a likely hot spot due to the camping and hunting supplies it carried.

"You think the mall cops got this?" Fred wondered.

"Maybe… we can check."

Then Fred recognized a few of the people inside were the ones that got away from him earlier. "Oh goodies!" he rubbed his clawed hands together.

Hiro climbed up on Baymax's back, locking the magnets in place. He decided to have Baymax do the fighting this time since he was worried about the injury affecting his own reaction time.

Except Baymax did not follow after the kaiju monster.

"Why aren't you going?" Hiro asked impatiently.

"If I use karate, I will injure the humans. My programming does not allow me to harm humans." He reminded him.

Hiro sighed. Of course. " _Katsumon, wait up_."

Their last big battle was primarily against his microbots, so the big guy had no problem as long as they didn't face off with Callaghan. This was also why Hiro made that separate training chip so that Baymax could be part of their superhero training sessions without constantly fretting about the others getting hurt. Unfortunately, that chip was initially intended for training, and the robotics engineer didn't think about bringing it.  _Plan B_ , he thought quickly.

"But if you don't, then those bad guys are going to hurt us!" Hiro advised his guardian, all while keeping his voice down. "It's all for defense… can you access the Kung Fu techniques that I also added?"

"I will use martial arts if it will help assist your injured state." Baymax seemed to sigh, in that quaintly familiar manner.

"We can do this."

"Yeesss! We can make like Bruce Lee and  _'be_  the water'," Fredzilla nodded, now showing to them all the boating equipment in that aisle. He wasted no time in grabbing a double-ended oar from the display and spun it real quick to check its balance. A month earlier, Wasabi had decided to also teach him some Bo staff skills to complement his sign-spinning talent. The kaiju had picked up on that skill in no time.

Before they left that aisle, however, Baymax crouched down and motioned for him to wait. Hiro made the 'Shh' gesture then pointed sideways.

"Yeaaah, those were the ones," they overheard one of the looters say in the next aisle as they walked through. "An' don't let their goofy costumes fool ya, they know how to fight."

"If that's the case, then $5,000 to the one who knocks 'em all out!" Another said, laughing menacingly.

After a short pause, another asked his question for clarification while still in earshot. "Would that be $5,000 per person, or for all of them? Do we get more for the robot?"

" _Whaaat_?" Fred whispered over his com-link. " _I'm worth more than $5,000!_ "

"They're on to us. We gotta stay sharp," Hiro told them to stay focused on the severity of the situation.

" _Sneak up on them?_ " Fred leaned on his oar to peer around the end cap.

"My scanners indicate more coming in from behind," Baymax pivoted around, so that he and Hiro were back to back with Fredzilla.

"More gang members," Hiro whispered, his muscles tensed in anticipation despite his secure position on Baymax's back.

The three of them came running toward him, one actually drawing a short tanto sword. Another had a gun, but it was still tucked in his pants. They had mixed nationalities from America and Asia too, and most of them certainly did not lack in the strength department.

"Baymax, use that kayak as a shield," Hiro looked to his right to a shiny orange and yellow two-seater hanging from the ceiling. The big red robot snapped it from the chains, and holding the seats inside he held it in front of himself. "Block, and counter!"

He stepped forward, knocking the first two to the ground. Then Baymax took a step back to swing the pointed end of the boat at the man with the sword, and knocked the weapon from his hands into the shelving with a loud clang. That made the gruff man angrier as he reclaimed his sword. "Keep them busy, wear 'em out." Hiro advised Baymax. The robot had fought enough times now he knew what actions to take without constant prompts. Then hopefully when Fred was free, he could secure them with the chem-balls.

With this commotion going on, the other gang members that they heard earlier had ran back over to join in. The kaiju monster spun his oar in anticipation, and parried with the first one that took him on. The short man grabbed the oar with the intent to take it, but Fred gripped harder. He twisted his body to spin around, flipping the guy over so much he lost his balance. Then the blue kaiju-mon jumped up and executed a spinning roundhouse kick combo to the heads of the other two men, knocking them out before landing in the adjacent isleway.

Hiro spotted that the one gang member had his gun drawn now, and ducked down close to Baymax while shouting. "Rocketfist, Baymax! Knock him out of range."

The robot's rocket thrusters roared to life as he leapt up to fire his fist, just to keep moving. Baymax back-flipped and then hovered above one of the shelving units, while still holding onto his kayak-shield. The large red fist hit the man, plus knocked another one off his feet like a bowling pin.

.. _Awesome_.. Hiro smiled at the impromptu twists Baymax kept adding to his commands. The robot's increasing responsiveness toward situations like this never ceased to amaze him.

"More are coming," Baymax alerted his young friend, as he was also able to survey the whole store from this vantage point. Fredzilla jumped high and landed ungracefully on the narrow shelf top near where Baymax hovered. "Wow… just too.. many," he gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"Requesting permission to use the chem-balls," Baymax prompted, shifting the kayak to his rocket fist hand so he could transform two of his fingers on his other hand into Chem-ball shooters.

"Permission is not necessary!" Hiro scoffed. "Do what it takes to stop them!"

"Righteo!" Fred leapt from that narrow shelf to another one that was more sturdy, with the amount of grace a drunk cat would have when jumping off the back of a rocking chair.

"Hah-hah! Look at that!" The sassy mascot began bobbing and waving his tail as he did a little jig for everyone's entertainment. "Blue spiky Kaiju-mon dancing on shelf-tops! Yey!  _Sing_  with me! Blue spiky Kaiju-mon dancing on shelf-tops!"

"Let's test your knowledge and see what you've learned so far, everyone," he explained to the ever-baffled group of gangsters. "What color am I?" The jovial kaiju held out his hands as he readied a couple chem-balls. " _Bluuuue!_ "

" _Um, Katsu? Just to let you know.. there's a hunting section here..with rifles. Watch out for that_ ," Hiro quickly warned him over the comm.

" _Okay_ ," Fredzilla did not miss a beat as he threw the balls at the small mob. After the liquid exploded, it immediately transformed into a growing, glowing pink foam that hardened one of the men in his tracks. His feet were fused in the foam, and trapped one had that had touched it. The others made faces, not sure whether to stay or run.

"Hey, where am I dancing?" the monster paused, teasing them with a few more chem-balls that he was juggling around the claws of each hand. "Shelf-tops!"

It was then that one guy tried to hurl various balls and base ball bats at him now in hopes of knocking the obnoxious superhero down from his perch. Fred was already used to this level of abusive mockery from the drunk fans during the university's games. He had learned how to duck and dodge so well now, as a result.

The sudden lurching of the ground as it decided to rock and roll again, however, was not something Fred was prepared for. In true Wile E. Coyote fashion, the shelf abruptly disappeared from under his feet and he fell to the floor below. His side hit the top of the shelf and he tried to slow the fall by hanging on with an outstretched arm. Unfortunately, a wire metal ball bin and an adjacent equipment rack fell on top of him to boot.

" _Fre– Katsu_!" Hiro called out after seeing him fall. He was still flying above everything on Baymax, and his friend's pained cry immediately caught his robot's attention.

The lone gangster who hadn't been trapped by a Chem-ball or falling equipment in that area high-tailed it out of there. However, the two superheroes no longer cared about him anymore.

Hiro slid down from Baymax, and the robot promptly lifted the structures from Fred.

" _You guys okay?_ " Wasabi's voice also came over their comm-links. " _That last one was a doozy_."

They had been using a closed line between the three of them, to reduce confusion, so startled Hiro a little to suddenly hear Wasabi.

" _Uhm… Katsumon had some stuff fall on him.. I'll letcha know in a minute_ ," Hiro finally answered, switching frequencies.

" _Do you want us to join you?_ " Wasabi prompted.

" _We should be okay_ ," he said, watching Baymax scan Fred.

" _Just let us know, if you do_."

" _How's the fire monster, Sansho_?" Gogo spoke up to ask also.

" _He's standing up now…looks like he'll be fine_." Trying to explain their current dilemma with the others was the last thing he felt like doing right now, in case other gangsters attacked them.

" _Give us a call, anytime… okay?_ " She reminded them.

" _Absolutely,"_  Hiro confirmed with them, before switching off his frequency.

"Your third and fourth rib have hairline fractures, but the bones in your arm are not broken. It has sustained severe bruising, possible muscle injury." Baymax reported to Fred.

"It still smarts," Fred held his sore arm against his side as he carefully stepped around the structures on the floor. Thankfully his suit protected him from the worse of it.

"Everyone else out now?" the young hero looked to Baymax. He also did a head count of the gang members they did trap in frozen foam. Another moment passed as Baymax scanned that part of the store.

"Yes, and no."

"No?" Hiro queried.

"Yes, in that direction outside the store, I picked up another life signature." Baymax looked toward the interior mall entrance toward the back.

"Right," Hiro rubbed his neck. "Katsu, are you okay enough to go with Baymax to seal up the front? After you're done, come to back me up."

"Yeah, I'll live, buddy. Just holler if you get in trouble."

"I will. And.. Baymax, call 911 so the police know about these guys."

Hiro picked his way around the fallen items in the isles to reach the mall entrance from this store. Inside that part of the mall, there was an open atrium area that was circular and had a set of escalators in the center that went up to the second floor. Some smaller trees and greenery now hung precariously after being shaken loose from the second level balcony walls. Due to the earthquakes, of course, the escalator steps no longer operated either. That did not stop people from using them like stairs though.

He spotted a pretty woman at the bottom of the escalator base, under what looked like a boxy display that fell from the second floor escalator entrance. Hiro decided she was one of the mall employees, from the type of clothes and fancy smock she wore. The young woman was also Asian, possibly Japanese, with long shiny black hair brought up into a tousled bun.

He also guessed she was a tall girl who lost her balance with her platform high heel shoes on her way down, when the earthquake hit. That fashion for woman to wear crazy high shoes like that was something he'll never understand, especially when they were already so tall. (Honey Lemon said they make the legs look longer, but yeah.. doesn't do anything for him.) Hiro did hope she didn't injure her ankle or legs somehow, from the weird way legs were positioned there. The teen tried to not notice, but he happened to spot some dragon-type tattoos on her legs, peeking out from her white knee high and under her skirt on her thigh.

"Are you okay, miss?" Hiro asked as he helped her get the rest of the cardboard off of her.

After taking a moment to look at him, she shook her head while gesturing to her ears and mouth. It took him a second before he realized the lady was telling him she was deaf.

"Oh, okay," Hiro nodded. Unfortunately, sign language was not something he had made an effort to learn. Hopefully he could figure out something. The young superhero persisted by holding out his hand for her to grab, to help her up.

She smiled shyly, shaking her head no. She slowly straightened out one of her legs, favoring it. Then she looked around for her designer leather purse, and once she found it she pulled out her phone. After typing out something, the young woman showed her note to Hiro.

" _I am deaf, but I can read lips… if that is easier_."

Hiro could not argue, as it was easier than having to write notes on her phone each time he wanted to tell her something. And yet, he could not help but wonder, what kind of job did she have there if she could not talk with customers.

Regardless, the tinted shield on his helmet disappeared so she could see his face. "Are you hurt? I can help you."

She smiled, to acknowledge his thoughtfulness in honoring her request. She returned her phone to her purse, then pointed to her right ankle, frowning.

"Okay, yeah… twisted it?" Hiro nodded. He fancied the idea of helping her up, but if she was taller than him, he couldn't really provide much support.

"Baymax, can you come? We have a civilian with injury," he spoke into his comm.

" _Yes_ ,  _I can be of assistance_."

"My friend will be here to help, and take you outside for medical assistance. Is that okay?"

She nodded, her face now pursed in thought, and then she started to take off her heels. The young woman buckled the strap of one shoe to the buckle of the other, so she could carry them easier. Then to his surprise, she made an effort to get up now.

"No, no.. wait!" the boy in blue stepped closer to her to give her a hand. "You don't have to get up… okay, lemme help you."

It was as if she didn't want him to help her now, the way she was acting. Not exactly a good sign. "Are you okay?"

The tall woman stood gingerly, not placing weight on her right ankle as she leaned lightly on Hiro. Then she hopped over to the side of the escalator handedly to lean against it. The girl smiled apologetically as she pulled out her phone again to write something more.

" _Don't worry. I had texted my friend earlier, he should be here soon… I should be okay. Thank you for your kindness_."

Hiro raised his eyebrow, grimacing to show his gap-tooth. Sure, he felt really short and kind of childish next to her, but that never stopped him. "Are you sure? It's not a problem for me to help."

She rotated her ankle a bit, before testing more of her weight on it now. Her line of vision was redirected past Hiro now, also causing him to turn and look.

"Does she require assistance?" the big red robot walked in their direction.

"She said she doesn't now," Hiro shook his head, feeling a little more awkward about this. The tall woman agreed by also shaking her head no. "Someone is coming to help her."

"Yes, thank you for your help, little sir," another Asian looking guy spoke up as he walked up to them from a separate connecting entrance to the open atrium area.

Hiro turned his helmet's shield back on as he turned to see the woman's friend. This man wore dark sunglasses, his hair was nicely cut, and his face clean shaven. He also appeared very GQ in his designer name jeans and a silky Polo shirt. His appearance was in stark contrast to the looting punks Hiro had to content with earlier.

"Um, yeah," the teen responded meekly. Something was really beginning to bother him about all of this now. "No problem."

Hiro did notice as the Asian man turned to help the woman, similar dragon tattoos on his muscular biceps like those on the woman's thighs. He didn't know why his eyes were so drawn to their tattoos, as so many people he knew also had them. Teenage curiosity, perhaps… or was his instinct trying to tell him something?

After a little playful banter from her boyfriend, he ended up picking up the woman to carry her out the way he came in to that area.

"Everything okay?" the blue kaiju-mon also appeared next to Baymax, at the ready.

"Y-yeah," Hiro rubbed his neck in thought. He walked back over to the others, feeling very unsure of himself now.

"Check the rest of this mall?" Fred prompted next.

Baymax finally turned away from the direction the couple went, to face Hiro. "She did not sustain any injuries. Why did she need help?"

"That's why–" Hiro stopped mid-thought, finally understanding the nature of Baymax's question. "You mean she was  _faking_  it? No wonder…"

 _Shit_ …

He climbed up on Baymax's back now, suddenly feeling sucker-punched. The younger Hamada whispered to Baymax, out of Fred's earshot. "Was she really deaf too?"

"No."

 _God, no._  Hiro heavily set his helmet with a thunk against Baymax's back in defeat.

"Your neurotransmitter levels are rising," his robot expressed his concern, detecting the strange and sudden shift in Hiro's mood. "What is wrong, Sansho?"

"I messed up," he was barely audible, just enough for Baymax to detect. "But..  _why_  did she want to see my face." Another beat passed before he rose his head with a sigh, realizing more of his mistake. They still had to check the rest of this mall, however, and Fred was starting to get worried.

"Hiro?" Fred whispered, noticing his hesitation. He stood behind Baymax now, looking up at Hiro through his monster's mouth.

"S'okay... just thinking," Hiro drew in another deep breath, deciding what to do. He didn't want to try to explain his problem to Fred though. "Let's go up to the second floor. Climb on, Katsu." At that, Baymax knelt down for Fred to climb up too.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another warning for graphic injury details (gunshot wounds, stitches) and possible PTSD triggers.

_When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. - African proverb_

* * *

The Japanese couple walked into an underground garage adjacent to the mall, and paused to listen for a moment. It was still just the two of them in that part of the garage. The woman pulled out her phone again to bring up what looked like a navigation app, a specialized one that displayed a handful of different glowing dots on a grid.

The man nodded over to their left, motioning that they should cut in between a couple cars to take a shortcut and pass through the spot where one parking level criss-crossed with the level that was lower. After they were inside their dark silver Mercedes Benz, the man finally asked if she found their assignment.

The leader of the Fujita's smiled knowingly. "{It's him}," she spoke in Japanese as she showed her comrade the picture that had been taken of the disguised younger Hamada from one of his past bot fights. "{It's too bad. Zero is such a cute,  _sweet_  little boy.. when he's  _not_  bot fighting.}" The woman sighed woefully, which then turned into a sinister laugh.

"{And he had no clue?}"

"Ee…" she mused. "{It wasn't until his robot came that he started to get suspicious. You… you waited too long! A few seconds later and I would have been discovered!}" The woman punched him.

"{Hey, hey! Just making it all the more realistic,}" he snorted, not letting her sassy attitude get to him.

She looked at her phone again to check where the boy and his robot was now. If the boy did know, he wasn't showing it by chasing after her right now. A game of cat and mouse was also fine with her. She can play that game too.

"{This news will make the boss happy,}" she smiled, clicking her tongue. "Ikuzo!"

Her comrade nodded, and started the engine to leave.

Kimiko and her other female partner in crime, Mei, just arrived to San Fransokyo a couple days ago. She was part of his elite who had been in charge of Yama's original headquarters based out of Tokyo, Japan. The surging popularity of technology sweeping through the west coast had attracted him to take advantage of it. Apparently, these punks he recruited here had gotten thrown in jail, and otherwise failed him in one way or another. She had sent Rinchi over first to report on the situation, only for Yama to demand that all three of them be here right away.

Certain activities by particular individuals lately were really getting his mawashi loincloth tied in knots. So being of his most reliable staff, Kimiko advised him that watching these heroic wanna-be's in question first before advancing would be most effective. It did have its risks, but catching them when they least expected it would be worth the wait.

* * *

Fred and Hiro had walked into the back entrance of the mansion after landing in the patio. Baymax followed behind the others quietly, just to conserve his diminishing energy reserves. He was barely seventy percent before they left, so after the wide array of assignments they had accomplished, the healthcare robot was the first to make the call to head back. Especially since they also had to take a not-so-direct route, in the event that they were still being followed.

Even though Gogo and Wasabi alerted the three they were heading back before the sun set, and had asked again if they needed help or a ride back, Hiro declined the offer. While Fred was very willing to go home, Hiro wasn't so much. It was not the kind of successful run the young superhero had hoped for, and it really bothered him that he let his guard down. He needed to buy some extra time on how he was going to explain everything.

Before they left the mall, the young hero still felt uneasy, and finally asked Baymax to scan for any unwarranted technical devices on him. That was when the tracker on Hiro's chest armor was found. Fred was scanned too, but his suit was 'clean'. Hiro secretly told himself it must have come from the girl. Her slick tactic really bothered him because he did not remember her from anywhere before. The last thing he really wanted was to expose Fred's mansion to these people. But, the teen still did not want to tell his two teammates the whole truth. Because, the truth was far too complicated to discuss right now. So he lied with the assumption that he picked up the tracker from the gangs either at the drugstore or the sporting goods store.

Hiro decided the quickest way to solve this problem was to take off his indigo colored armor. Then just so that his suitor didn't get suspicious about it disappearing or not moving anymore, the superhero hid it in a bag and quickly tossed it into the back of an unsuspecting rescue truck. Of course, he advised Fred to be more stealthy as to not attract anymore unwanted attention.

It simply was just an exhausting day, and it was starting to show in Hiro's attitude. But Fred was determined as ever to keep Hiro out of his funk.

"First dibs on the shower!" the sweat-soaked kaiju mascot called it. His blue kaiju suit was riding low around his waist as to cool himself off faster. Fred also limped slightly as he had developed some inflammation and pain in one of his knees after the sudden fall in the sporting goods store.

"Not going to argue with that, Stinku-san," Hiro wrinkled his nose to tease him, as he and Baymax followed after.

"You're not exactly a breath of fresh air either, B.O. bro," he tried to hug him, just to rub off some of the sweaty, wetness of his shirt to the little nerd.

"Aahhh… gross! Stop!" Hiro pushed him away and sidestepped a few steps over in the hallway they were in.

Fred chuckled a bit, but he stopped since Hiro looked even more annoyed.

"It is recommended to cool the core body temperature and increase fluid intake as soon as possible to prevent heat exhaustion," Baymax simply added his two cents to the situation.

"Did the cooling unit in your suit get messed up, Fred?"

"Maybe... oh, wait.. was that what  _this_  was?" the mascot paused to lift up and flip over a section with a couple buttons and a small temperature readout inside the top edge of his kaiju.

"Yes..." Hiro said, not even looking at it. He remembered how Fred complained about hot it got in his regular SFIT mascot suit, so the young genius initially built a cooling system into his supersuit.

"Can you fix?"

The teen just sighed. He really wasn't feeling all that great and this was just adding to his aggravation.

"S'kay, buddy," Fred patted him on the back a couple of times to show his appreciation.

Upon approaching his room, Fred had stopped, looking back to put his finger to his lips. Then he listened at the door for a moment.

Hiro just gave him a puzzled look, which was quickly replaced with an eye roll and a frown.

"Never know," Fred mouthed the words, looking a bit smug too.

It had been unspoken knowledge in the group that Gogo was flirting a lot with Wasabi earlier that year, something of which Hiro was mildly aware of as well. But he doubted they still were that serious anymore, unless Fred was jesting at the trend of how everyone seemed to be walking in on each other at inopportune times lately.

Fred opened the door slowly for a beat, then quickly as if he was bursting in. "Honey, we're home!" He wasn't referring to Honey Lemon, of course.

* * *

Gogo leaned on the back of the white couch, her phone in hand, while Wasabi sat at the other end of the couch, apparently growing more restless. She pretty much convinced the big guy to want to eat his words from earlier, since Hiro was not really communicating with them very much about his whereabouts. It had been dark for a couple hours, and the fact they didn't return until now gave her reason that something went wrong.

The tough girl did see a weird exchange of glances between the two boys after they walked in, but that wasn't all that concerned her.

"Finally! We were starting to get worried," Wasabi stood up to walk over, only to have his uneasiness quickly replaced with the look of confusion. The sound of Baymax's red armor hitting the floor as the rotund robot shed the pieces stole their attention for a moment before they looked back to the others.

After seeing their weary, pained expressions, coupled with Hiro missing half his wardrobe and Fred being wet, it took the speedster a moment before she just shook her head in defeat. But not without also shooting Wasabi another glance that said 'I told you so'. "I'm just  _not_  going to ask."

The young superhero went over to sit on the couch, dropping his helmet and gloves on the floor. He sighed as he rested his head heavily in his hands, clearly minding her remark to not give an explanation.

"Good.. because it  _is_  a reeeally long story. Kinda like those that start out with, 'It was a dark and stormy night'… except, well.. it wasn't very stormy ..or dark, yet," Fred explained instead, as he slowly climbed out of his costume. Then he walked over to the door to push a button on an intercom unit. "Heathcliff, bring up a round of Zillade for everyone, and about five ice packs, please!"

Baymax took his place promptly next to Hiro, most concerned about wanting to check on his injury. "Hiro, it is important to clean and dress your gunshot wound before it becomes infected."

"Aw no, no.. Baymax…" Hiro whined as he sat up in protest.

" _Gun_ shot wound?" Both Gogo and Wasabi echoed at the same time.

"I thought you needed to recharge," Hiro muttered to his guardian.

"Not yet."

"'Yep, lots of 'fun' times," Fred confirmed, but wisely decided to not elaborate. Instead, he peeled off his wet shirts and looked around for something 'clean' and dry to change into. "Shower time!"

Gogo immediately sat next to Hiro, her eyes intense on him as she studied the brown silken scarf and the blood encrusted texture of the black shirt on his left side. "What. Happened?"

"It- it's nothing serious! Really," Hiro answered, albeit nervously as he clamped his arm down against the side in question. "I was just snatching a gun from this thug, and it—"

"You're clearly not ready to do that yet," she responded bluntly, reaching out toward the knot on the scarf. "Lemme see."

"No, no.. I'm okay," he shifted further away defensively. "What do you mean, I'm 'not ready'? I still caught the guy!"

"'Cause you got  _shot_!" She pointed to his chest. Gogo furrowed her brow, becoming more serious. Simply because the following thought of an angered Hiro with a loaded gun did not sit well with her. "Did you shoot back?"

He looked at her in disbelief and seemed to be thinking about his answer before responding. "No!"

"Okay, good. Now let me see it," Gogo taunted him, sliding closer again. Clearly it did not hit anything vital, but she just wanted to make sure it really wasn't that bad.

"No, no, really! It's fine!" Hiro got up to get away from her, only to find himself blocked by Baymax.

"Your wound should be cleaned and dressed before infection and scarring occurs, Hiro," the healthcare robot repeated again.

"Hey, stop being such a big baby about this,"Gogo firmly told him. Why was the Hamada boy so nervous now? Or was it that he did not like the idea of taking his shirt off in front of her?

The exasperated look Hiro gave Gogo after she said that was priceless. Baymax tilted his head, trying to understand these exchange of words and actions between the two. Hiro exchanged glances with her and an equally concerned Wasabi, then tried to puff himself up again. "I'm  _not a baby!_ Just.. let me do it, okay?"

Still keeping a wary eye on them, he picked at the tight knot for many long seconds trying to get it undone. Growing impatient, and briefly making eye contact with Wasabi, GoGo could not hold off anymore. She stood up to help Hiro with that.

"I  _got_  it," Hiro nearly yelled as he batted her away. That did it. He was about to turn from her, but Gogo grabbed him by his arm to stop him.

" _Relax_ ," she growled while glaring into Hiro's now fearful eyes. He dropped his hands to let her try untying the knot, but a couple more seconds passed before she gave up.

"Do you have scissors, Baymax?" GoGo looked over to the billowy healthcare companion.

"Yes," the finger of his right hand revealed a set of small surgical scissors that looked like they also came from a Swiss Army knife.

"You're not cutting off my shirt!" Hiro was very quick to protest.

"I'm just cutting off  _this_ ," Gogo tugged at the scarf roughly, trying to make a space away from Hiro's body and shirt for Baymax.

"Ow.. oww, easy!"

"You tied it," she grumbled, waiting for Baymax to cut while she held up the scarf. As a distraction, she decided to ask about the other thing that was bothering her. "What happened to your armor?"

Hiro sighed. "I got tagged.. with a tracker."

"Sit down," Gogo pushed him back as she pulled away the cut scarf. He took a couple steps back to sit on the edge of the couch. She automatically assumed he did the right thing of loosing it before coming here. "By who? Why?"

"There were gang members looting the stores too," he explained, a little more softly. He looked up toward Baymax briefly when he moved in next to him.

"Can I see your wound?" Baymax pointed to his side.

Gogo stood where she was so Baymax could do his thing, but still watched closely as the boy gathered and lifted his shirt tail. Dried blood had stained his pale skin, and once he reached the wound he paused. The fabric was stuck to it, and trying to pull on it made him swear from the pain.

Baymax tilted his head, then raised his finger to offer spraying water than he had warmed to room temperature. "Using water will loosen it."

"Ow.. shit, this is bad," Hiro drew in a sharp breath as he felt more of the sting from the water coming through.

"Language, nerd," Gogo couldn't help but also tease him about his rash of expletives. She actually had seen her share of gunshot wounds from growing up on the streets of LA. It looked like this one just grazed his skin, fortunately. Unfortunately, it was a nasty split a few inches long in the tissue under Hiro's armpit. His build was still slight, but he had enough muscle there for the bullet to skim over. Just his luck to get hit where his armor did not cover.

"Not going to wonder where that water is coming from," Wasabi commented. He had to step away for a moment too, as it was getting to be too much for him to watch.

The young hero ended up having to struggle with pulling his arm out of the sleeve to give Baymax better access. The gash started bleeding again, once the shirt was removed, and the fact Hiro was sitting on a crème-colored couch bothered Wasabi even more.

"Where is Fred?" the worried swordsman decided to be a little more proactive. He walked over to the door to look into the hallway. "We're going to need towels, or gauze at this rate."

"Shower," Hiro spoke through gritted teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. He had his left hand behind his neck to keep that arm up.

"You also require stitches," Baymax concluded, spraying more water on it to flush it out, and then prepared a needle to administer a local analgesic.

"Oh no..." Hiro responded to that with more whimpers. "Just don't shut down in the middle of it…"

 _Totally acting like a big baby again,_ the speedster thought again, but to herself this time.  _Both of them_ , she sighed, also noticing Wasabi's nervous pacing.

"Here," Gogo sat next to the injured teen and gently tugged at his damp shirt to get it the rest of the way off, despite his protests. Then she wrapped it around his waist so it would absorb the fluids from Baymax's spray. "Just use this until we get some towels, okay?"

Now feeling very much cold and frustrated about the awkward turn of events, Hiro audibly sighed in response. But the timing could not be better because Heathcliff arrived with the Zillade and ice packs that was requested.

"Great! We also need some towels and gauze too, sir," Wasabi told him.

Heathcliff nodded, understanding the situation, then stepped out into to hallway. He was back in a flash with a stack of maroon colored towels. Wasabi noticed those were not their usual ivory monogrammed towels, and laughed once. "Thanks."

The big guy set the stack on the table, and motioned for Baymax to slide back for a moment so he could place a towel by Hiro's side. Gogo took another to wrap it around the shivering teen. Heathcliff returned once more with a good-sized first aid box, and set it on the table by Baymax and Hiro.

"So, you guys started picking fights with more gang members?" Gogo sat on Hiro's right side as Baymax prepared to start stitching the wound. She grabbed one of the bottles of Zillade, broke the seal on the lid, and handed it to Hiro. "Were they the same ones from the hospital?"

"Maybe," he took a gulp of the red fruity drink before setting it back on the table.

"Just trying to understand now,  _why_  they wanted to track  _you_ ," Gogo prompted again. She definitely had her guesses, but she decided to let him be the one to tell them.

"You will only feel a pinch," Baymax informed the boy.

"They recognized that I'm the leader…" his response almost sounded more like a question. Hiro winced again in discomfort from the needle and thread, showing how much he really did not feel like having a conversation like this now. "Can we talk about this later?"

Gogo studied his pale face for a moment. Even though Baymax didn't announce it, the younger Hamada did look like he was going into mild shock from the needles and the stress of all this. She surrendered by putting a comforting arm around his trembling shoulders. "Hey, you're gonna be okay. Just don't look. Deep breath in… breathe out. Breathe in…. and out," Gogo leaned into the younger Hamada, whispering words of reassurance to help him regain peace of mind.

Fred returned not long after, fully dressed and with a towel around his neck for his wet hair. He stopped at that end of the couch by Baymax, to look at the progress on Hiro's wound. "Oooh… ouch. Okay, Hiro wins the Biggest BooBoo Award this time," he frowned. Hiro opened his eyes to look at the redhead, and stuck his tongue out in response.

Gogo clicked her tongue, pushing the small nerd away. "Okay, you're fine. Just don't forget to  _breathe_."

The fan boy smirked while he grabbed a bottle and a couple of the ice packs before sitting on the end near GoGo. "I just have cracked ribs, bruises, and a bum knee."

"From what?" Wasabi prompted.

"From when Rick's fell on me," Fred looked at his knee again before positioning an ice bag on it.

"Oh, right."

"Are you guys okay?" Fred asked Wasabi and Gogo, in between swallows of Zillade.

"Nothing that tiger balm, ibuprofen, and some band aids could fix," Wasabi leaned on the back of the couch near him. "I feel unusually super now after surviving two buildings collapsing on me."

"Hah, awesome," Fred mused.

Gogo just rolled her eyes. She leaned forward to go through the first aid kit in search of gauze and tape to have ready for Baymax.

* * *

Hiro stared at the hot flames licking at the logs hissing in the fire pit before him for a moment before he had to close his eyes again to shake it off. It was a weird mix of familiarity combined with fear now. A log gave way and fell into the fire, and his heart rate jumped for a second. He pulled up the hood on his sweatshirt to block out some of it. The teen angled himself sideways on the bench and leaned back on Baymax to redirect his focus toward the night sky.

 _It's just a fragging bonfire, not a burning building!_ Hiro told himself again. He had to work through this. It was just a matter of retraining his mind to let go of the negative associations that the trauma had left on his psyche.

As novel as the idea was for them to cook dinner over a bonfire, he didn't realize it was going to become an issue. He used to love roasting marshmallows, and be mesmerized by the glowing flames flickering around and burning the logs into hot embers. The musky smell of the smoke in the chilly night air used to give him fond memories of fall, or Christmas break at the ski lodge with his cousins up in Washington state. It felt very different now. Maybe it was the depression also reminding him that his brother was no longer going to be there for that anymore.

But the young genius wasn't going to tell them about this new problem with the fire. This time he also managed to hush Baymax before they created yet another awkward scene. The whole team already knows now that he has a phobia with needles and stitches. And then, finding out that he was ticklish on his sides too when it came time to putting on the bandages. The whole thing could not have been any more embarrassing... or expensive, no thanks to his generous contribution to the Swear Jar afterwards (something that Honey Lemon had started awhile back). In fact, he found himself thinking of ways to get back at Gogo afterwards for that.

Hiro picked again at his cooled semi-charred marshmallow still on the stick while listening to the others video chat with Honey Lemon on Fred's and GoGo's phones. They sat across from him on benches at the other side of the fire ring, swapping stories about how the afternoon went. For dinner, they had grilled teriyaki meat over an iron grate along with other things. It could have also been the thought process that went into cooking the food properly that triggered his other thoughts.

"We should plan our next steps for tomorrow," Wasabi felt they needed to move onto more important matters now that they had finished eating. "I still need to make sure my apartment's okay."

Hiro sat up to also face the others in acknowledgement. He almost had forgotten that his aunt asked that he be back by tomorrow morning to help her. It was a task he did not look forward to, knowing now that there are gangs out there looking for him. "Yeah… Aunt Cass wants me back tomorrow also."

"When?"

"In the morning… late morning's okay," Hiro rubbed his face in thought.

"She needs help packing up some stuff," Fred recollected. He was on the next bench over, and turned slightly to face Hiro. "Let's just say that whole side of the house, the one your room is on? The walls and windows are cracked and damaged. So everything on that side needs to be moved away."

Hiro just groaned after realizing how much stuff that meant packing up, and that it may not just be his stuff.

"I can help," Gogo offered. "To be honest, if gangs are what we gotta look out for… then we would have better luck tracking them in the afternoon or evening."

"Yeah," he nodded, "I was thinking we would have to wait on the stakeout. But if you got other things to do tomorrow—"

"I hardly have anything at my place to worry about," Gogo shrugged.

"Oh, okay." The teen felt a little unsure about what she wanted from him, really. If the mechanic was set on watching his actions, he was going to make it difficult for her.

"I can find some people to help with her repairs," Fred suggested.

"That's going to be tough for Aunt Cass to not be open for awhile," Wasabi rubbed his chin with a frown. "Hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week too… triple rough."

Naturally, the bare mention of Thanksgiving gave Hiro another surge of anxiety. Because right after was when his final project was due that semester. The final exams, he could handle easily. But realizing how behind he had fallen from where he hoped to be with Geronimo initial design left him feeling panicked all over again. Nor was he anywhere close to presenting Baymax to any of the local clinics yet. After what had happened at the ER today, the younger Hamada was terrified of the reality that he blew it. Then the thing with the Asian girl happened, and his only guess was that it had something to do with him winning at too many of the wrong kind of botfights.

"I just hope the labs won't be closed for long," he summed up all his worries into that simple statement. He could fall back on his garage, but it would be harder to transport all the materials and things without everyone finding out.

"Everything going okay, little man?" Wasabi looked at him, appearing very concerned. Hiro's worry must have been plain on his face at that point.

"Just.. a little behind," Hiro ignored the weakening fire in between to look across to his elder teammate.

"Have you told your professors?" Wasabi asked. "I'm sure as long as you just meet at the requirements for the project, it'll pass. Afterall, you did start late."

"Yeah.. it's just, I really wanted to complete the goals I set."

"You're staying within your scope, right?" the physicist pointed with his hands.

"Yes…" Hiro sighed, looking over to Gogo suspiciously. Did she tell Wasabi about his problems earlier?

"It's more like a combination thereof, isn't it?" Gogo glanced from the fire's glow to them.

"Kind of," Hiro looked down away from the fire to take a deep breath, trying to calm his uneasiness as he thought about a diversion off this topic. "Are you guys on track?"

"Pretty much," Wasabi nodded. "I never overshoot a deadline."

"I just have to write a report that compares the Lord of the Rings to the Harry Potter series," Fred smirked.

"Aish.. shut up!" Gogo glared at him. The lanky redhead returned her hard stare with a sheepish grin.

"Honestly, apart from making sure the gangs aren't after us, I think we should take a break from this superhero gig until this semester is over," the big guy openly confessed to the others. "Especially since Honey Lemon is out of comission for awhile."

Gogo nodded. She had taken a moment to push a big log closer into the fire, causing a burst of sparks to fly upwards.

 _Oh man, don't do that!_ Hiro's eyes grew wide in response, and he shifted his glance from the sky back down at the patio tile again to redirect his focus. "Uhm, yeah… that might help, I guess."

Gogo looked at him oddly for a moment, apparently noticing his wierd reaction. "So yeah, just focus on what's important. No more supersuit upgrades until Christmas, okay?"

"Um, okay. Right," Hiro looked up at her with a hesitant smile.

* * *

_**Saturday - November 22, 2025** _

_I will not lie when I say the last year at highschool was brutal. A whole year I wished I could have back to 'do over', because it had been such a waste. I was just done with the school system in general. It may be a great place to go for 'normal' people, but it absolutely was NOT for me._

_My family… they acted like they didnt get it, and that made it worse. I didnt really have any other options since Aunt Cass couldn't afford to send me to a private school, or have the time to do homeschooling._

_But ... I dont know. A lot of my resentment came from the boring subjects I had to take, and the constant scrutiny I got from the other kids. I guess what really drove me nuts was just how unfair things were. Most of it was how I hated how smart I was… if being smart was supposed to be a good thing, then why did I get so much hate about it?! Why did I even have to go to school? Just so I can have that diploma?_

_Somehow… I found stuff that helped me get by while I was there. The bot fight club was insane, after a few kids discovered the more challenging battles downtown outside the range of what was acceptable by the school. Then the group of us decided to ditch that lame school club to join in on this wicked online community._

_Thats pretty much how I passed my time after I graduated high school. Hanging out online, ranking up on virtual and real time battles, and then ranking up to go to the live action ones. Essentially, the winner was free to take the losers best parts and armor, in addition to ranking points. I just loved the challenges, trying to figure out what it took to win while still staying within the rules. Most of those battles were low-key, until my schools group started to dare each other into going to the ones where actual money bets were placed. The longer I battled and stayed in the top ten, the more kudos I got in the online community. So when I started hustling the downtown battles too... it was sick!_

_But before I even got that far… that was when I also learned bot fighting was something that my brother did NOT get into. Go figure… he was such a nerd anyway. Even though it WAS robotics, because robotics is what we do, it was not "practical" enough. He was chill about it a first, prolly thinking I'll was just checking it out…. but after awhile, that's when things seemed to change between us._

_Really, I thought it was going to awesome when nii-san got accepted to SFIT. He had so many ideas... and to finally be able to use them for the greater good, I was so excited. Everyone was._

_I tried to adapt to the new life after he was accepted there, but it never really occurred to me how much I was going to miss having him around at high school. Going to, coming back... by myself. Eating lunch.. by myself. Doing homework or working on random new inventions... by myself. I also had to take the long way in between classes, just to avoid any unwanted attention from those ass-wipes. On top of all that, I also had to help out MORE at the café... :p_

_It took like a couple months after he started, but I finally got used to_ _Tadashi_ _getting home late from classes, if he came home at all. He would go on about how amazing it was, the crazy inventions people would come up with, the new friends he was making, and the opportunities to meet so many guest scientists from around the world._

 _To say that I wasn't a little jealous would also be lying. Nii-san_ _would say he would bring me by the lab sometime, but yeah, things got crazy busy and he would sound like a broken record with the apologies about forgetting._

_So yeah, I got even more resentful. We used to do so many cool things together, and then it all became SFIT this, SFIT that. Stupid Fragging Nerd Lab._

_The bot fight community never got old though. After I came up with this rock-solid idea to use high torque electro-magnetic motors in robotics, those amateur rookies were so floored. Literally. Yeah, I tried to show Megabot to nii-san_ _too, but he didnt seem as impressed._

_He just wasnt happy with what I was doing with my free time out of school in general. It wasn't anything bad, unlike the other losers at high school selling drugs and causing the administration all kinds of trouble. Bot fighting in itself was a growing, profitable business in San Fransokyo and surrounding cities. I just..._

_Okay, I did realize things were not good between us anymore. I was mad that he had something going for him that was way better than my suck fest... so that made me want my own life even more. I was getting tired of just being known as Tadashi's really young, annoying, brainiac brother._

_But he figured that out, somehow... who am I kidding, nii-san's_ _the only one who really knows me. That, and yeah... I had a way of leaving my stuff all out in the open, everywhere, for him to see. My subliminal way of still wanting his attention, his approval… I guess._

_The suck thing though... When I took a break from the bot-fights for the SFIT showcase, I totally lost my ranking. I was already yesterday's news, and no one cared who I was anymore when I came back afterwards. Go figure._

_That's ... That's what really gets me. I hope_ _Tada-nii_ _understood. I never told him just how much I missed having him around, and that I was sorry for being such a bonehead. I tried to that night at the convention. I really hope he understood... I was mad at him before, but I got over it when I was working on the microbots. Especially after he invited his friends over to help too._

_But… that part still feels wrong though... that now, his friends are my friends. His robotics project, his stuff, his lab... all mine. I never wished for it to be like that. Cause that doesnt make it better…. I just miss him more._

_I just… I never got the chance to apologize. I hate that so much! He had to leave and find out what that alarm was for. Why? Just why?_

_Nii-san didn't have to go... I mean, if he only knew. If ONLY he knew..._

_The convention hall had to have been rigged to explode like that... debris and flames went shooting everywhere, like it was full of a flammable gas. Then the shockwave..._

_I got blown away by that blast, and the wind was knocked out of me. It was so hot, the flames were so bright…. and it smelled so bad. I couldnt breathe. All I could really remember was how bad my head and my chest hurt. It felt like a long time before I could breathe enough to shout his name into the inferno. I wanted to go up the stairs to get closer and look, to find him, but my legs kept going out under me._

_I think it was a firefighter that pulled me back, but I still couldnt walk. So I got carried away from there, and that's when they said I just lost it. Fighting, resisting, not wanting to stay in the ambulance. They somehow figured out that my brother went inside. But that whole part is still unclear..._

_I did not come out of it until I was in Aunt Cass's arms... she was holding me tight while stroking my hair. I slowly realized that I was sitting on the edge of a stretcher that was stationed outside the ambulance. My arms were tucked against her chest, with nii-san's hat still in my hands._

_"_ _Tada-nii_ _.. T'dashi's... he's..." All I could see over and over again was the fiery explosion swallowing him up._

_She stepped back to look at me, carefully wiping the damp soot from my face. I winced because my face hurt from the touch. Everything hurt._

_"Shh, sweetie... They don't know yet."_

_"He went inside... I tried to stop him. He went inside.. then it exploded..._ _Tadashi's._ _.GONE," I'm crying now, because I witnessed it. I saw it. I will always see that explosion, every time I close my eyes too long._

_It seemed like it exploded right after he went inside. How could he have survived that? How? How could even Callaghan manage to live, unscathed? Or… was it just at the entrance…?_

_Aunt Cass had hugged me tighter again, and I felt her body shake when she began to sob. It was a long time before w_

* * *

"You okay, buddy?" Fred's tone was respectfully sober, but it still jarred Hiro from his thoughts.

The glowing light from his tablet must have got Fred's attention. That, and the frequent sniffling. Fred got up from his bed and gingerly walked over to where Hiro was sitting on his sleeping bag on the floor. The younger Hamada ended up sleeping in Fred's room, while the others took the other two available guest rooms. Hiro finally admitted he rather not stay in the reading room that was accented with dark oak bookcases and lots of medieval armor complete with swords and axes. While it did look cool at first, it got rather creepy-looking in the dark, making it hard for him to sleep there.

Fred placed hand lightly on the teen's back as he closed his tablet. The mascot didn't say anything more as he pulled Hiro in closer for a hug. Hiro leaned in to the comforting embrace, but then drew in a deep breath and leaned forward as he wiped the tears from his face. He felt like he wanted to hide again, as he still struggled with trying to open up to his team about all of this.

"Trouble sleeping?" Fred's hand stayed on his young friend's shoulder.

"Bad dream," Hiro whispered, nodding. Who was he to fool at this point though, he sorely missed having someone to confide in. While Baymax came close, a lot of topics still required some backstory before his robotic companion fully understood. Fred at least, he was laid back enough to roll with the punches. From what he could tell, the eccentric fanboy was an only child who also had been struggling with his own brand of loneliness, and very likely the reason why Tadashi befriended him. But yet, there were some things that he may never have the nerve to tell Fred, or anyone for that matter. So those details went down into his journals, often times to be deleted later.

"Baymax said it would help if I wrote down the events from that night. Like it could help me understand how it happened, what happened, why the dreams keep happening..."

"Is it helping?"

"I dunno... I still have the dreams. And I was flipping out over everything big time today," he rubbed his face, talking into his hands. He could practically write a book about everything today, if he were to write about that. This was the third time of writing just about the explosion, each time from a slightly different perspective, but he wasn't going to tell Fred that. "I don't wanna see a shrink," Hiro whispered as he looked up a little.

"Today was tough.. really tough," Fred sighed, patting Hiro on the back. "I wouldn't worry too much yet."

"It's changed my understanding about the accident though."

The two just looked at each other for a beat, before the younger Hamada finally whispered. "I don't think he died... in the fire."

"You... don't think he..?" Fred asked at a slightly higher octave of a whisper, turning to face him more.

"Yeah.. there's one thing that doesn't make sense... no bodies, or even remains. They were the only two who had died that night. Everyone else survived with just injuries!" Hiro didn't wait for a response to explain further. He decided he was carrying this burden long enough, and he felt Fred was worthy enough to know. "It's self explanatory what happened to Callaghan – he used my microbots to save himself. But what about Tadashi?"

"Then where would he be, if—" Fred interrupted him to ask.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, no, no! If you believe Tadashi should be dead, don't worry! I too am one who believes he was dead. But with all these rumors running amuck with Tadashi coming back in a Big Hero 7 movie (as a possible villain named Sunfire), well... I just could not resist poking fun at this 'hot' BH6 fanfic topic. ;p 
> 
> Funny thing about the bonfire... in my first draft, I didn't realize what I did by having them sit around it. Not until my Hiro headcanon started squirming more about it... and so I changed it to include the ptsd. Poor kid!
> 
> The this progresses, I really hope to make the relationships between each of the team members to have much more meaning, in how they know and work with each other. And yes, Hiro felt really stupid afterwards for not realizing that he was done in by the Fujita. This is a prime example that even though he may be a genius, he is not 100% foolproof. Hiro also had not seen the Fujita girls before – new game plan. ;p


	11. Chapter 11

 

The younger Hamada only thought for a moment after acknowledging Fred's question on the whereabouts of his brother. Except he wasn't entirely certain of that yet.

"I mean, at least... If Tadashi wasn't in the explosion," Hiro glanced upward, reflecting now on his more recent research about other extreme disasters. "Or.. with scenarios from terrorist attacks, like 9-11... or big warehouse fires.. even atomic bombings, the heat was so great, so intense, that it melted… it  _incinerated_  everything."

"But... I doubt the explosion at the convention hall was  _hot_  enough like that, for long enough. It.. it couldn't have burned him up... completely. I didn't even get any serious flash burns. And my.. my microbots, they were actually kind of fireproof. Just mostly iron, but only the outside parts were found half melted. They should have found..  _something_ , from Tadashi." He didn't want to say it, but it had been said that teeth were the hardest substance to incinerate and often the last left of the remains afterwards, let alone anything metal like a set of keys. But how, how could there be nothing?

Hiro finally paused long enough again for Fred to interject. "Wait,  _we_  didn't even know that. How did  _you_  know that?"

The teen exhaled, wincing slightly, "I.. I hacked into the police records earlier... with Baymax's help. I had to find out."

"Yes... Wait," Fred furrowed his brow in thought, set his jaw, then leveled with Hiro as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "You mean there  _was_  more to this, and the cops did not  _tell_  you guys?"

Hiro nodded. "Why would they cover it up?"

"Unless they were lazy, and assumed he just, uh.. completely, well.. you know," Fred frowned. "And then got too busy with Callaghan and Krei Tech to follow up. When did you suspect something?"

"They're hiding something…" he whispered more softly, hugging his knees. "And these dreams, I feel like now they're like Dashi's way of telling me something's not right. Kind of like how Baymax led me to the other microbots," Hiro looked away from Fred in thought, debating again on telling him about his project for a search and rescue robot. Many of these conclusions also had come from all the research he had done on emergency rescues and fireproof materials.

"Okay... if Tadashi's  _not_  dead.. how come he hasn't tried to contact you by now?" Fred looked very much serious in trying to figure this out also.

Hiro shook his head. "He's in a place he can't get out of? Or he  _did_  get injured and.. just isn't able…"

"So.. how are the dreams subliminal?" The tired redhead gave him a confused look.

"Um, I- I'm not sure," Hiro wasn't one for guessing, but that was a question he could not logically explain as of yet either. That, and he wasn't very confident in trying to discuss anything that was spiritually based. Because if it wasn't his brother's vibes, then could it be his parents looking over him? Tadashi used to tell him when they were younger, that their parents were always there in spirit to guide them. Their Japanese grandmother also had reassured them with this from time to time when she talked with Aunt Cass on the video calls. But if that was really true, that his parents are spiritual guardians, why did they even let Tadashi do what he did?

Hiro exhaled, finding something else to say. "I was watching one of our videos from the expo, and saw a mini portal there."

"Oh yeah... The one for making international deliveries happen in seconds?" Fred nodded.

"That one, yes. I mean, it's a hunch... But what if.. What if Tadashi tried to use it, to escape also?"

Fred just thought for a moment, processing this new idea. "That.. That could happen. But even though we found the prof's daughter in one... wouldn't that be terribly cliché to assume the same thing  _again_?"

"Um, yeah… was just trying to figure out  _where_  he could have gone. It's kind of weird, the way both my parents and Tadashi just.. inexplicably  _disappeared_." Hiro laid back on his sleeping bag with a defeated flop.

"Yeah.. I'm sorry about that, buddy."

"I just... wish I knew why…" Hiro uttered the words before he could stop himself. He didn't really expect an answer though, especially not sympathy. The most he heard from Fred was a sigh as the younger Hamada stared at the ceiling, and he felt oddly relieved. He didn't really want to be fussed over again right now.

"Maybe… Callaghan did save Tadashi, and he was lying to you?" Fred finally suggested. He also stretched out on the floor, using Hiro's legs as a head rest. "Cause if it was a cover?"

Hiro didn't respond right away, because that was something he wondered about many times before. He also was momentarily distracted by the awkward weight on his legs. "It was kind of weird, the more I think about it… how Tadashi walked with me  _away_  from the Convention Center to talk, instead of just talking on the way there to get my microbots."

"You  _weren't_  getting the microbots?" Fred then propped himself up on his elbow.

"No," his eyes were still fixated on the details in the ornate ceiling tiles. He purposely did that as a way to keep himself from getting overly upset from that.

"Wow, slick villain tactic strikes again! Except this time it's the guy you'd think of last! Since those two worked so close together, maybe Callaghan had asked Tadashi to be his accomplice?" The fanboy spoke with his free hand to stress his point.

Hiro rolled to the side his stitches were not on and propped his head on his hand to look at Fred again. This time the younger Hamada was momentarily perplexed as he processed that new theory, because he really never thought his own faithful brother would turn to the dark side. "Of course, yeah… Remember when the police wanted to question me after the Krei Tech incident?"

"Yeah."

"I felt like Callaghan was trying to frame me, connect me to Yokai. But when I got upset about my brother, they stopped asking."

Fred made a face. "So maybe there was a switch, between him and Tadashi?"

"Or... they were checking to make sure I believed that Tadashi died... To make sure I didn't realize something else was going on. Y'know, since we all saw who Callaghan was."

"Dude! If those two were also working on government projects, it could be that there was more going on behind the scenes that we haven't realized!" Fred sat up, waving his hands in front of him to emphasize that fact.

Hiro nodded, even though his mind still refused to fully grasp this new idea yet.

"Or like why Tadashi got the private lab? That's something that actually irked Wasabi."

"Can I ask you this," Hiro also sat up all the way also to look his friend in the eye. He finally decided to ask the question, despite how crazy it sounded. Despite what it may mean in hindsight, because he also convinced himself he could use this idea as another cover for looking into which gangs were on to their team. "Can you, or your dad, help me find out what happened to Tadashi. It's that serious... Please?"

Fred looked at him for a moment before finally agreeing. "Um.. okay, sure."

"Just… don't tell the others. Baymax knows, but.. the rest, they'll probably think I'm nuts, or still in denial. Please?"

"Hey, you're not crazy… that's supposed to be my job! But I'll promise this for you," Fred patted Hiro on the back, then held out his fist for a fist bump.

Hiro's smiled slightly, following through with the gesture. He had to tell himself again to have faith in his new friend. Hiro had debated on telling Gogo at one point, but lately, her intensity was a little too overbearing for him. The mechanical engineer had been much more enjoyable as another Nerd Lab classmate, so why is she taking everything he does now so seriously? Unless this was typical for most women to get all worked up about upsetting situations when it comes to people they care about.

"So.. the evil Baymax was actually a plot device to look for Tadashi?" Fred rubbed his chin in thought.

"Eh… heh, yeah," Hiro hesitated, almost taking back his previous thought. The fanboy had somehow figured out his previous request from the other day. "But I am still worried about the other Baymax," he reiterated.

"When do you want to check out those portals?" Fred asked, after another moment of thought.

Hiro flopped onto his back again in thought. "Tomorrow, maybe… but there's a lot of other stuff to also do."

* * *

The start of the next day was anything short of ordinary, especially when they were greeted by the man of the house. Fred's dad had made it in that morning to check on everyone after hearing about the earthquakes. It also was the first time Wasabi and Gogo met the much talked about namesake in person.

However, Fred was not in his room, nor was Hiro anywhere to be found between the two rooms. Their belongings were still there, with the exception of no pillow and blanket on Fred's bed. After a quick brainstorm, they decided to check down in the bunker first. Mr. Lee agreed to accompany them, since Wasabi and Gogo were not given the entry code yet.

The bunker was indeed where the two had went. Except at this point, Hiro had fallen asleep while sitting at the desk with the video monitors. Fred was curled up under his blanket on a couch to one side.

"Hopefully they got  _some_  sleep," Wasabi shook his head in disbelief.

"Probably not… if Hiro's that worried about something," Gogo walked over to where Hiro was, glancing at the vid-cams mostly highlighting the early morning downtown streets and shops of San Fransokyo. There were a couple of other videos that were harder to distinguish.

She glanced over to the nerd in his blue SFIT hoodie, really wondering how he didn't fall out of the chair. The boy was sitting on the edge of the seat and his head rested on his left arm, while his right arm dangled down towards the floor.

Rather than being mean and pulling the chair all the way out from under him, as she often did, Gogo pushed it in on the younger Hamada instead. Being mindful of her actions now was more in respect to the company she was with. But as a whole, she just simply found it hard to just be 'nice'.

Hiro still sat up with a start, but not yet fully awake yet. "Hold on… just, almost—" he muttered incoherently.

"Good morning, genius," Gogo leaned in to greet him as she gripped his shoulders to make sure he was awake. Yes, she was totally being uncharacteristically nice again. Hopefully Wasabi did not take that the wrong way. It still bothered her that he made the assumption she left him in favor of the younger Hamada. Yes, she did prefer Hiro's company over his, if she had to chose, but the teen really was not the reason why she didn't want to be involved with Wasabi.

"Find anything new?" Wasabi stepped over to squint at the monitors.

"Ugh," Hiro rubbed his face, trying to wipe away the sleep. He sat back in the chair, only to sit bold upright again after realizing they were there. "Uh… nothing. Nothing really," he quickly clicked a key on the keyboard to collapse the videos from view.

That final action confirmed her suspicions. He clearly was up to something, which somehow didn't surprise her anymore.

"So you just wanted to brush up on your deskjitsu?" Wasabi gave him a cautionary glance.

Gogo sat on the edge of the adjacent desk, crossing her arms. Wasabi seemed to be keeping his word in being more involved again. How far Hiro will let him go was her next little bet.

"No. No… just planning our attack… for later," Hiro smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his thick hair. She just happened to notice the circles under his eyes too.

"Oh gosh, Dad!" Fred's exclamation interrupted the Q & A session with Hiro, drawing their attention to the other side of the room.

"Everything going alright?" Mr Lee asked, once Fred released him from his super tight hug.

"Hah, well, just a little sore, but I'm good," Fred said, even though he appeared very sore and stiff as he stood up. "Oh hey, lemme introduce you the team! …or well, part of the team. Honey Lemon is at home, from actually being one of the earthquake's causalities. And Baymax – a really awesome karate-kicking healthcare robot – is upstairs, recharging."

At that, they more or less stopped what they were doing to stand up and move more into view of the old man with peppered hair, and lightly tinted aviator-style eyeglasses. They had spoken with Mr. Lee on video chat a couple times before, but this was the first time they actually met in person.

"So.. yeah, this is Hiro, the brains of our operation – quite literally – and also our resident robotics expert," Fred motioned toward him. Mr. Stan Lee nodded and stepped forward to shake hands with the younger Hamada.

"And then, Gogo Tomago – not her real name, of course – but seriously, her speed is her secret weapon. She's also very good at making stuff go fast!" GoGo greeted Mr. Lee politely. She also couldn't help notice the excessive flattery Fred was using in introducing them. The fanboy could very likely make swamp sludge sound appealing.

"Wasabi is one precise physicist by day, but a kickass swordsman by night… plus, he also knows how to make a fully functioning light saber!"

"As I understand, science is your super power," the jovial old man nodded, smiling at the group. "It is through the marvel of science, that many others I have come to know have found their calling."

Fred just smiled, beaming. "It totally is, which is so cool!"

"Well then, now that we know that everyone is accounted for, let's head back upstairs to break our fast, with some breakfast!"

They could not argue with that, and the group proceeded to follow suite. Until something rather alarming caught Gogo's attention by the other leather couch there.

At this point, all niceties were off. She picked up one of her mag-lev disks to look at it closer, as her temper slowly came to a boil. The finish of the manufactured paint job was well done, complete with a clear protective coat. Crisp lines separated the different pastel colored rings on the circular rainbow . Then on the edge of the two disks was a decal of the My Little Pony, Rainbow Dash, flying along at top speed.

"Yo, hosebrain!" she turned toward the youngest one in the room, her mag-lev disk in question now resting on the top of the couch. The speedster automatically knew only he knew how to resurface it like that.

"Explain!"

Hiro somehow managed a balanced mix of both amusement and fear on his face before he finally thought of something to say.

Wasabi face-palmed while muttering, "Here we go again…"

Fred clamped his hands on his mouth, just to keep his amusement from being too obvious. Right away she realized that this must have been another prank they decided to pull on her. When will those two boneheads ever learn?

"I thought you liked Rainbow Dash," came Hiro's straightforward reply.

"Does it not fill you with smiles?" Fred was brave enough to also ask.

"Did I ask you to do this?" Her eyes were barely slits as she glared at him, all the while doing her best to keep from losing her temper.

"No," Hiro explained, keeping his tone level. "But I didn't ask for your help with my GSW either."

"This is going to cost you a  _whole_  lot more than the $20 from last night if you don't fix it today!"

"Today?"

"Today, or I'm not helping you anymore!" she shoved the disk into his hands before storming out of the room to go upstairs.

* * *

"So… there you have it, on As Our World Turns," Fred explained to his dad, nervously laughing a little.

"Shut up, Fred. Please," was all that Wasabi could say from behind his hand, face-palming yet again.

"Somehow, these little skirmishes do not surprise me either," the elder one reassured them, knowingly. "Are you related?" Mr. Lee prompted Hiro.

Hiro's eyes grew wide in complete surprise. "No, no.. definitely no.. not at all!" he blurted out, trying to not sound too shocked as he followed the others out.

"They're just really—" Fred was cut short from Hiro jumping in just to shut him up.

"Short! Yes… since we're the same height… or something… it's easy to think that," the younger Hamada tried to elaborate as he walked with them down the dark hall. Mr. Lee's assumption was bad enough, but he really did not want Fred to also start discussing romantic possibilities. Not now, especially with an elder that he barely knew, along with Wasabi giving him equally concerning looks. He also felt that the sibling talk would eventually lead to a discussion about the lost of his brother, and that was another detail he rather avoid. But if Fred's dad didn't know yet, he would be surprised. It seemed like anyone important in San Fransokyo knew about the explosion at SFIT's Convention Center now.

By the time they reached the main level of the mansion, Hiro found Gogo in Fred's room, getting together what was left of her armor for her suit. The others went ahead for breakfast, but he wanted to get her so they could all eat together.

"Sorry," Hiro started, as he knelt down to pull the fully combined set of mag-lev disks in shield form from under Fred's couch. They were all still very yellow with the black pinstripe and red accents. "The other ones were just an older beta set I had worked on, to test a new kind of resurfac—"

As soon as he had handed over her maglev shield set, the feisty rebel had attempted to punch him.

Attempted, because Hiro had caught her hand to stop her. He was bold enough to keep baiting her temper, however. "I still can't believe you fell for—"

"Don't think you're off the hook, nerd," she growled at him, and in one smooth move had slung her disks to her back so she could grab his arm. Then Gogo turned with her left shoulder pressing into his chest. By the time he realized what was happening, he had no choice but to follow through with her throw.

"Oww," Hiro groaned, once his back made hard contact with the carpeted floor. It came up much faster than he had expected that time.

"Didn't know you were a Brony," was her next statement as she turned away from him, to place her disk set with the rest of her belongings.

"No way," the young genius quickly denied as he sat up. He glanced once to Baymax, now waddling over to them. "Fred is."

"Right," she didn't sound very convinced.

"Hello, Hiro. I heard a sound of distress," Baymax started, looking over and apparently scanning Hiro.

"I'm fine," Hiro forced a smile as he rose to his feet, "Just practicing some Judo again."

Baymax just looked from him to Gogo, tilting his head slightly. She crossed her arms, sighing. The younger Hamada could only imagine the sort of conclusion Baymax was drawing from his readings at that point. He probably saw much more from their emotional states.

"Practice caution, Hiro," he simply stated, very likely on an emotional level as well as a physical one. Hiro rubbed his neck, nodding, as he walked away from his healthcare robot.

"So, um, are you.. leaving?" Hiro asked Gogo, still aware of her attitude. The whereabouts of the bicycle she was riding yesterday before the earthquake was never really discussed, until he just thought about that now. He heavily doubted the public transportation systems were in operation at this time.

"Maybe," she just said, then looked up from what she was doing to make brief contact. "Unless you want me to stay."

It was then the reality of her leaving really hit him. "Why would I  _not_  want you to?"

"After the way you were acting yesterday…"

Hiro was silent for a beat, knowing what she meant, and suddenly felt guilty all over again. It took him another moment to find the best words to explain himself. "Yeah…I- I wasn't really myself."

She glanced in Baymax's direction, then looked at Hiro while placing a hand on his shoulder to emphasize her concern. "Seriously though… are you okay, Hiro?"

Hiro nodded, feeling increasingly uncomfortable about being put on the spot again. "I.. don't know anymore," he finally sighed. "But.. I'm trying.."

"Look, I'm sorry if I made you feel bad yesterday," Gogo attempted to make eye contact with his dodgy gaze. "I'm just worried that if you can't trust me— or any of us – then  _who_  can you go to?"

Hiro just shrugged, trying hard to think of something more to say that wasn't another apology. He did have so much he wanted to tell her, but he just couldn't find the words to explain it. Deep down, he was afraid Gogo would not understand any his motives. The last thing he wanted was to deal with more of her anger from his knucklehead moments, which, oddly enough, wasn't the same when he pulled pranks on her. All he could do right now was move his mouth, completely unable to find the words as his heart pounded and his hands grew sweaty.

At this point, Baymax pulled him in with one arm for a hug, while at the same time encompassing Gogo with his other arm. "Those who experience PTSD need trust and support from their loved ones."

"Oh gosh, Baymax… ?" Hiro had to protest in embarrassment. He tweaked his robot's programming to keep him from saying too much in certain company, in adherence to the patient confidentiality law. But lately, Hiro noticed Baymax somehow would find ways to get around that if the robot 'felt' strongly enough about any given situation.

"Effective communication in a relationship, just like trust, can help you to understand each other and share a better friendship," the nurse-bot advised meaningfully.

"He's gotta point," Gogo actually smiled in response, buried within the billows of Baymax vinyl. Somehow the ridiculousness if this also replaced Hiro's complete embarrassment with a smile about being in a bear hug just inches away from the sassy mechanical engineer. At that, Baymax sensed they were more at ease and released them.

"It's just… the more I get to know you… the more I'm afraid.. that- that you'll go away…" Hiro finally found the courage to describe his biggest concern with Gogo. He really liked her, except he didn't want to get hurt again from losing her. That was also why he was resistant to the idea of opening up to her, intimately. His eyes shifted from the floor to the door, then back to her again.

Gogo stepped in to put an arm around him, to show her appreciation for his openness. Her sincere action, in turn, really helped boost his confidence. "I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon," she tousled his hair. "Unless… you keep messing with my stuff."

Hiro smiled back, "Only if you stop teasing me."

"No."

"Why?" he pouted. This hardly seemed fair at all.

"That's how I get you to talk, genius," she punched him in the arm.

"And laughter is medicine," Baymax also informed them, somehow understanding the pattern their jests.

"Yeah, thanks," Hiro winced, but then he turned on his foot to nervously look back at the doorway again for anyone. "So.. How about we go for breakfast, before they start worrying?"

* * *

Hiro stood in the cold rain on the small roof top patio at his aunt's house. Again, he fancied the idea of incorporating an insulated wet suit into the design of his new set of armor, and perhaps also for the girls, as something warmer to wear in weather like this. He currently wore his first set of battle-worn chest armor that he made when they when up against Yokai. It fit a little more snugly now, and of course, it did nothing in keeping him very dry or warm. All except for his head. Hiro sighed. His big brain was entertaining more ideas again, in its desire to avoid thinking about what he didn't what to. Water drops ran down the outside of Hiro's helmet visor as he watched his red armored healthcare robot lay down another blue tarp across the tile roof of the house. Baymax shut off his jet boots to lightly land on the peak edge of the roof in order to place a few more bricks on top of the tarp to hold it in place.

Thankfully the rain started falling that morning, and it wasn't coming down very hard. Already, he had also helped their neighbors cover their roofs after noticing they were in a similar situation. Hence the super suit, as Hiro needed to hitch a ride on Baymax to fly over to the buildings.

Once the large red robot secured the tarp on the roof, Baymax landed next to the young hero. "Your body temperature has dropped significantly, Hiro," he said after a moments glance at his charge. It was not the first time his guardian voiced his concern about Hiro's condition. "It is recommended to go inside now that the task is completed."

"Can't argue with that anymore, buddy," Hiro turned around from after setting one of the potted plants upright. A couple others were cracked open from falling, and he decided to leave that muddy mess alone for later.

Aunt Cass also came out on the patio at that point to check on things. She was wearing a yellow rain coat, but also had his old dark green rain coat slung over her arm. "Hey, tough guy, how's everything?"

"Roof's covered."

"Oh, wonderful! The others have made headway down stairs by clearing away much of the rubble by the front entrance too," Aunt Cass smiled. "I brought this for you, sweetie."

"Thanks, Aunt Cass… but, I'm going in," Hiro declined the raincoat. That briefly reminded him of how much he also hated having to wear a jacket over his Halloween costume when he was younger.

"Well, that's even better!" his aunt put a hand around his shoulders as she followed him through the patio door.

"I will fly down to the front entrance," Baymax told them. After a quick assessment, he concluded he would not easily fit through the regular size patio door with his armor on.

"Okay, see you later."

Hiro took off his helmet, stepping around fallen items on the floor of his once shared bedroom, as he and his aunt made their way over to the stairs. Aunt Cass also paused to look at the handful of buckets and mixing bowls placed around the area where the roof was leaking to make sure it had stopped.

"Once we get most of the café cleared, I would like for you to pack up everything along the walls over here.. and there," she gently reminded her nephew, gesturing to his side and the one with the window on Tadashi's side. "It's just temporary… I just need the walls cleared so they can be inspected for damage."

"Y-yeah," Hiro finally confirmed after some hesitation. "I'll get to that after I change."

Doing something about the bedroom attic had pretty much become a touchy subject between him and Aunt Cass. Aside from her nagging reminders to just keep it clean and tidy, the younger Hamada started to also get requests about what to do with Tadashi's side. Hiro finally told her, almost a little too harshly at one point, that he'll be the one to pack up whatever else that he didn't want to keep, when he was ready. The empty boxes she had been bringing up still have been sitting around there for the last couple of months, however. It was hard, just because he was torn between not wanting the memories, and that possible what-if glimmer of hope that maybe his brother wasn't really gone. Even then, there was that time earlier in the summer that Tadashi had thought about moving out to his own place. That notion quickly took a backseat after their jail-bird incident. Lately, the younger Hamada was simply too busy to go up to his room. If he wasn't in the garage or the SFIT lab, he was in the living room eating something he found leftover in the fridge. He hardly had the desire to go to his room to sleep, with so much going on.

* * *

GoGo set aside the shovel to grab a push broom again to sweep more of the broken glass on the sidewalk right by the cafés front door. The broken window panes were boarded up yesterday to keep out any unwanted visitors. The overhang, or what was left of it, still protected them from the rain. Somehow, the task of cleaning up the broken tiles that came from the roof had set Fred off into a lengthy explanation about how mighty they must be, like worker ants. Once they pushed together the rubble, they were shoveling it into a flat bed truck that was provided. (Or more like, she was. He kept stopping to talk.)

At that, the hopeless fan boy continued describing in greater detail how amazing Ant-man was. He was a superhero that was a lot like them, because both Hank Pym and the new guy were just ordinary people who relied on science and totally amazing suits to give them their super powers. But not without its share of trouble from the experimental designs, of course. Pym's company also had been the leader in technology for San Fransokyo before Krei Tech took over the city by storm a few years ago. That was the only bit of information that actually had some worth out of this whole discussion. Gogo decided his moment of super hero wonder was also brought on after Fred's dad showed them yet another secret room on the main level of the mansion. It was a type of debriefing room for superheroes from the last century, only because having one secret hideout would be too predictable.

Fred's stories were all very enlightening, but she had more concerning matters to worry about. Like why did Fred and Hiro go back to the surveillance bunker in the middle of the night? Since Aunt Cass left them to check on Hiro, she took advantage of the opportunity to talk more about 'business'.

"Awesome, Fred," Gogo paused long enough to pop her gum as she looked at the redhead clad in a borrowed yellow rain coat. Time to change the subject. "So about yesterday, where did you guys confront the gang members?"

"In the mall," Fred paused, leaning on the handle of the snow shovel. "Or did you mean  _where_  in the mall?"

"The part of town you were in," she asked more specifically.

Fred just snorted. "Downtown, like off the east side."

"What did they look like?"

"Like.. gangsters."

Gogo glared at him, loosing her patience. "Specifics!"

"Um, mostly strong guys, typical street clothes, some of them had weapons… from guns to knives and swords…"

"Any girls?" she popped her gum.

"Girls.. what?" Fred wrinkled his face in amusement, finding that question strange. But she just met his look with one of continued seriousness. He was probably happy that she was actually talking with him. "Well, yes… there was this one lady Hiro went to check, but she already had someone helping her."

"Some really good looking Asian chic, who worked there," the fan boy glanced up, rubbing his chin as he pictured the lady again. "Kind of tall too. She left Hiro tongue-tied afterwards."

Gogo just raised her eyebrow, doing her best to not give into his teasing nature. His details about said girl, on the other hand, those were something to be concerned about.

"Who was the other person with her?"

"Oh.. some Asian guy. Very GQ in all his designer duds," Fred responded just as casually. Although now he also was starting to look suspicious. "Why?"

Gogo shook her head. Until she got Hiro to give his side of the story, she only had her assumptions to go by. "Something not good."

"Seriously, what?" Apparently, all the half finished conversations going around were beginning to get to Fred.

"Okay then," Gogo popped her gum again. "Yesterday, when I sent out the alert before the earthquake? That was for a robbery in progress. A tall Japanese girl in geisha garb and makeup, and wearing roller skates, was making a break for it."

"Whoa… that would have been cool to see!" Fred looked totally amused again.

"Not the first time I've seen someone like that though," Gogo pursed her lips.

Before Fred could ask anything else, he was momentarily startled by Baymax nearly dropping in, between the flat-bed truck them.

"Oh, hey…hi there!" the English major greeted the tall red one. "What's up?"

"The damaged roof," Baymax looked up briefly, in literal response to his question. "I cannot enter through the door without causing more damage."

"Where is Hiro?" Gogo noticed he was by himself. In fact, she found it curious how much more independent the robot was becoming lately, and often did not wait around for instruction from Hiro. Whether that was a good thing or not, she wasn't sure yet.

"He is changing clothing to raise his body temperature," Baymax explained, then looked at their clean-up work. "Do you require assistance?"

Fred looked at his shovel, then back to Baymax. "If you are offering, totally! I really should  _not_  be doing this. "

"Yes, you are correct, Fred. You should not exert yourself if you have injury to your ribs," the healthcare robot observed. "However, performing a proper lifting technique would not cause strain to your torso. Were you practicing proper lifting techniques?"

"Heh… yes? I think," Fred patted the tall red robot's arm, otherwise disregarding his concern. "But I know you can do it  _better_!"

"We still need to check on the garage," Gogo sighed, remembering the hole Fred showed her. "I'll go open the big door there since the sidewalk's cleared."

The speedster hefted up on the handle of the garage door to lift it open. It was a an old-fashioned balanced weight that required manual operation, fortunately. She expected a mess, and it was. Fortunately, the work benches and built in shelves remained intact. The items they contained had gone everywhere though. She was about to turn and get the others, when something shiny and red caught her eye. It wasn't a part of Baymax's old armor either.

Knocked over by a larger crate from a shelf, Tadashi's moped was down on its side, half covered with some canvas and more plastic storage containers. A small pang of sadness came over her, seeing it in that state. The elder Hamada was so proud and excited the day he got the shiny new scoot. Once it became known that she was as much of a mechanic as she was a mechanical engineer, Tadashi kept asking her questions on how to properly care for it, every day.

 _He was such a dork_ , Gogo sighed as she walked in to clear up some of the mess around the area. The least she could do was straighten up things and stand it back up. It was very likely Aunt Cass was keeping the moped around for Hiro when he got old enough. The garage was the only place they go to there, and it had been completely out of sight before. There was hardly anything that was Tadashi's in the garage, for that matter. The speedster found it ironic how much she stood in defense of the elder Hamada when it came to his stuff. Seeing what Hiro did to Baymax that one night took a few long moments for her to process, and even then… it didn't make sense until later. At least the overly zealous genius had left his brother's moped alone. For now.

What did catch her eye was that the gas tank was still half full. That was not a good idea if it was in storage, because she had to totally drain the tank on her motorcycle back home since she wasn't allowed to drive it while her license was suspended.

"Whoa… no, this isn't going to happen in a day," Fred remarked, once he and Baymax made their way over to the garage. He was right about that, as there was also many smaller parts, molds, tubing, and printer spindles that used to be inside the containers, shaken out from on high to the floor below.

Conversation between Aunt Cass and Hiro about what best to do with the hole in the wall became more audible. It was her understanding that Baymax was trapped in the garage yesterday, so he had no choice but to bust through the wall. Currently, Hiro was trying to convince his aunt that they could build a door there instead. Especially since the only access points to the garage were from outside the house. However, Aunt Cass wasn't very thrilled about the idea of having a visible door to the garage in her café area. If there was one thing the younger Hamada apparently was good at, it was persuading his aunt. Gogo sighed, deciding now was a good time to save her from Hiro's persistence.

"Hey, genius," she called out to him.

"Yeah?"

Gogo glanced sidelong at the moped in the clutter, the tarp still in her hands. "Is it in storage?"

"Um, yeah," Hiro actually hesitated at that. "Why?"

 _I hope you've not been sneaking rides on it,_ She thought as she popped her gum. It was for Tadashi's sake that she had to be bossy again.

"If it's in storage, you'll need to drain the gas out of the tank. Stale gas rots out the engine."

"Oh really?" Apparently this was news to Aunt Cass as well. She stepped closer, adding her confirmation. "I just couldn't bring myself to sell it. Then Hiro finally admitted he wanted to keep the scooter."

"Well, I thought it was better to put fuel stabilizer in it," Hiro contested Gogo's previous advice. "Because an empty tank could rust."

"So you have been doing your homework. But if it's gonna be out of commission for a  _very_  long time, draining the tank might be better," she looked at him coolly. "Do you also know what to do about the sparkplugs, the battery, and the oil?"

"Yes."

Gogo checked over it, looking to see if the battery was also taken care of with a tender device. It was only unhooked from the connector cables. "Almost… battery's still gonna lose charge like that."

He practically had that annoyed 'where are you going with this' look on his face. Knowing more than he did had that effect on the nerd.

"How long ago did you look at this?"

"Last month. Why?"

"Just making sure you'll still have a moped to drive when you're actually old enough," Gogo said smartly, then popped her gum. "I'll show you later after the rest of this is cleaned up.

"Oh thank you, dear," Aunt Cass thanked her for Hiro. "I didn't even realize that part of it!"

"Yeah, small carburetor engines are tricky. But… I think Tadashi would be more at rest knowing we're taking care of it right,"

Aunt Cass nodded. "Hey, I'll get some more boxes for you to pack upstairs. In the meanwhile, I'll be over here taking inventory of the damage."

"You can take the armor off, Baymax," Hiro rubbed his neck in thought. "Then ask Aunt Cass if she needs help."

The healthcare robot complied, giving Gogo that opportunity to talk with Hiro as she and Fred followed him up the two flights of stairs.

"About the girl from the mall, what do you remember about her?"

While still walking up, Hiro tried to turn and look at them in mild shock upon the mention of the woman. His gaze locked on Fred before he spoke, giving her the impression the mascot said something he shouldn't have. "The girl… from the mall?"

"Yes, the one you helped."

"What do you need to know?" he stopped walking, halfway up to his room.

"What did she look like?" she gave him her 'speak, or suffer the consequences' look. Fred seemingly had his lips sealed now.

"Asian, probably Japanese. Wore designer clothes, uhm… dragon tattoos."

"Was her hair down, or tied up like a geisha? Any makeup?"

Hiro looked at her intently, not bothering to answer her first question, "You  _have_  seen her before?"

"I saw a woman dressed up in a geisha dress, face paint, and roller skates, robbing a store earlier that morning!" she felt like a broken record at this point.

"Who…?"

"That's why I am asking you. Need to verify who you saw!"

"Didn't you say you knew the chic in the skates?" Fred had to ask.

"She's a Fujita," GoGo lowered her voice as she leveled with the two. "I used to see them in LA, before Yama's gang lost the turf war—"

Hiro shook his head and suddenly turned to go the rest of the way upstairs.

"They're also Yama's Elite," GoGo finished her sentence, also continuing the stairs.

"They? How many are there?" Fred wondered.

"Three, last I saw of them," GoGo watched Hiro more closely since he clearly looked upset now.

"What happened?" she asked the young leader once she reached him.

"I never saw her before.. I had my guard down," Hiro said quietly. "She's the one who tagged me.. when I was helping her."

"But she knew who  _you_  were…?" GoGo crossed her arms. He didn't have anything to say in response. What does it take to get him to come out with it?

"You mean your identity had been blown?" Fred was left to make his own conclusions again.

"Y-yes," he said, then sighed. He looked a little more defeated now. "She tricked me.. and saw me without my visor. I was so stupid!"

The three of them exchanged glances. This was serious, and she understood now why he was so worried earlier. At least now she knew what he, what they were going up against. But really, why was it so hard for him to tell them. It makes her more upset when he doesn't tell her.

"This stuff will happen… it's Murphy's Law," GoGo sighed as she put a hand on Hiro's shoulder, "But it's how  _we_  work together to fix it that makes or breaks us... okay?"

"Yeah, so… what're we going to do?" Fred rubbed his hands together.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I could add more to this chapter, but I decided to end it here and get this puppy posted. 
> 
> To be honest, I am totally making my AU theory up as to what happened with Tadashi and the fire, since there is hardly anything clearly stated if there was a body found or not.
> 
> All the same, Hiro is still leery of Gogo at this stage. And this thing between Hiro and Fred is strictly platonic. Calm yoselves!. ;p I love how Hiro and Fred get along so well though (even though they make Gogo so mad/worried/jealous) Hiro's still learning…
> 
> So.. there's also this song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, about a moped. The imagery I have gotten of Tadashi when he got his moped, and the cheers (and jeers) of the others in the lab about it is just priceless! I can't leave it out… the moped will live on!


	12. Chapter 12

 

" _Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can't cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It's just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal."_ ~ Cheryl Strayed,  _Tiny Beautiful Things_

* * *

The more Aunt Cass looked at the overall damage, the more she had to remind herself of what she still had. She really had her doubts about the Lucky Cat at this point. It was hard to believe the café was twelve years old this year, and that the house had seen so much transformation in that time. It was eleven years ago when her life completely changed, and her two nephews came into her keep. The house and the café came as her promise to them to provide some sort of sense of normalcy, and that much needed want for a grounded family. She knew her brother-in-law's lifestyle of globe trotting to wherever their services were needed was something that could not be controlled. That was one of the unspoken complaints of missionary work, for doctors and nurses alike. But knowing what a complete family unit felt like for their young boys came hard. Their dad tried to make the most of it when they all were together though. She gave him credit for that.

Aunt Cass did what she could trying to fill their parents shoes. She had so many doubts of her own abilities at first, as the reasons for the loss of her nephews' parents became harder to explain. How long could she keep explaining the 'why' to them, if the gentle made-up stories didn't work anymore? As a coping mechanism, she finally thought up different forms of positive distractions to help them move forward. Her two nephews needed for her to be strong and to guide them, to have that no-nonsense attitude combined with positive reinforcement.

The idea of painting the attic to make that room more their own was anything short of an adventure. They both turned out to be very clever, helpful boys for their young age. Tadashi wanted to do it all, but she had to compromise with asking him to help with the lower parts, as well as keeping Hiro from painting the floor, while she worked on the upper parts and the ceilings.

The three of them ended up painting everything in that house with the craziest combination of colors to brighten it up, including some parts of the garage. It would bring in happy spirits and make their parents laugh, she made them believe. This was their new home, no more tiny apartments anymore. The boys had grown up here, they helped make this place into what it was today. These memories of Tadashi's influence became one of the things that helped keep her spirits up when she missed him. Especially recently, when faced with the depressing thoughts about what to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, this wasn't the first time she had to figure something out for the holidays after experiencing a personal loss.

Then the earthquake hit.

Aunt Cass wasn't going to lie, the damage looked very extensive. Far worse even than the Hamada brothers at their creative best when their inventions had rocked the place, quite literally. The last thing she wanted was to lose everything, but that was her anxiety talking again. The others reassured her the damages could be salvageable. Replaced. Hopefully the insurance would cover the cost of much of the damage. But the memories from her nephew's work most likely would be lost.

The broken heirloom dishes and like gifts from their Japanese relatives, and the pictures that got damaged, all of those were even harder to mend. Even in this day and age of everything digital, Aunt Cass still preferred to cling on to things that were still real, palatable. Those were just 'things' though, she bitterly reminded herself with a sigh. She was most relieved that Hiro was okay, even though he did look very much shaken up by everything that had happened.

Aunt Cass tried to reassure herself again that the floors upstairs appeared to look okay, but she still worried if it was a good idea to have all three of them on the top floor, for fear of a collapse.

"Your blood pressure has been rising, Aunt Cass," Bay max interrupted her stream of thoughts. He was helping her set shelves back up, move heavy things back into place, and pick up stock that fell in the café's kitchen, pantry, and walk-in cooler. "Why are you becoming distressed?"

"Oh Baymax, I'm just worried… there's so much to consider," the brunette sighed. Then there was Baymax. He also had those little unmistakable Tadashi-isms about him that made it clear to her how Hiro latched onto the robot so completely.

"Does experiencing the destructive effects of nature also make you feel distress?"

"Yes, very much so," Aunt Cass agreed with his assessment. She gripped her clipboard, pausing from reviewing her usable inventory against her damaged goods. There were still a couple dozen good eggs left. The rest of the broken ones they had cleaned up yesterday. The baked goods from yesterday didn't have a chance. She ended up offering them as refreshments to the first responders, her staff, and Fred before seeing them off. But these raw, perishable items would need to be cooked and eaten soon, for fear that she could not keep them properly refrigerated any longer. Already she was wondering what to make for lunch from all of this. And yet, the robot was still studying her.

"It's because earthquakes take away the feeling of security," Aunt Cass finally explained to the billowy nurse-bot.

"Is it like a personal loss?" his response sounded more like he was connecting this with previous input again.

"You could say that, yes… depending on how bad the damage is to the house," she had raised her finger tips to her chin briefly in thought. The brunette sighed, watching his simple expression before turning back to the inventory. A part of her felt silly that she was talking to a robot, and yet, she also found it rather cathartic.

"Will you feel better after the damage is assessed?"

"I may," the weary aunt seemed to appreciate the robot's thoughtfulness about her own state of mind though. "It is the 'not knowing' that makes me so worried."

Baymax remained silent, turning to look around the room. But he then turned one step more back in her direction before asking a new question.

"Why do people hurt each other?"

Aunt Cass stopped what she was counting, taken by surprise by this next question. Baymax is a robot, right? Why is he asking so many questions like a curious five year old now? It almost felt like she was talking to Tadashi and Hiro when they were younger. And yet, she was in some sense. Tadashi's programming fueled the nurse-bot's knowledge with everything her nephew knew and loved, along with what their parents had strived to do.

At least this question wasn't nearly as difficult as that time she had to explain to her nephews why people die, but it still required a moment of thought. More so, it left her wondering what exactly the healthcare robot was referring to. Her first thoughts settled on Mr. Callaghan, and then Hiro's actions in response to what really happened at SFIT. It was something she did not forget so easily after Honey Lemon had confided in her how Hiro was overcome with a fit of lethal rage. Her nephew had a harder time getting over this loss, more so than the first time.

On the other hand, she also heard more recent news that the superhero team had been investigating the looting yesterday. This detail was much too vague to make a call from also. "Why do you ask, Baymax?"

"It is not sound judgement, if they want to feel better."

 _Yes, that is true._  She felt relief that Baymax understood this much. Because that's the kind of advice she had told the boys when they were younger, especially Tadashi. It was sage advice her mother used to tell her and her sister when they were growing up. Be kind to someone instead, and their thankful smile will make you feel better.

"Sometimes, when someone is hurting… they want others to know it by hurting them in return. And even though we think this will justify the pain, it doesn't. It's always better to find out how to help others instead."

"What if the person is not distressed when they want to hurt others?" he asked next, blinking and nodding his head.

The questions just kept coming, and Aunt Cass found this one even harder to answer. She was going to have to dig deeper. "Who is this person?"

"They were people in a group called a gang," Baymax answered freely. "They wanted to hurt us, when we began to apprehend them."

"Oh.. oh, right," Aunt Cass nodded, setting down the clipboard and rubbing her forehead.

 _Yes, good.. he was talking about yesterday. They were fighting gangs then… wait, when did that become the new norm?_ She was sure to have a whole lot more gray hairs by the new year at this rate.

No... forget the psychobabble, the nurse-bot could also be trying to tell her something. "Did Hiro and the others get hurt?" the guardian asked him instead, her worry intensifying again. Hiro seemed okay, in that she did not see anything very concerning, but he was getting better at hiding things. She did notice how sore Fred looked when he moved though.

"I am sorry, I am not permitted to disclose that information."

 _And that means 'yes'._  Of course, there were Hiro's refinements to the programming that she also had to contend with. "Oh, right. I see... I'll ask him then," Aunt Cass patted Baymax on the arm as she moved past him.

"I still do not know - why do gang people want to hurt others?" he waddled slightly after her.

The change on words did help make the answer come easier for her this time. "Well, from what I understand, gang members do it for money and power."

"Is money and power why they chose to be a bad person?

"Sometimes. Other times, people are just naturally..  _attracted_  to what is evil. They actually prefer it."

Baymax tilted his head. "Humans become who they are, by what they choose to enjoy?"

"Often times, yes… it's what makes humanity unique. And it's also why rules are set to teach the differences between right and wrong," Aunt Cass wanted to make that point understood. She turned her head when she heard someone at the front door, knocking.

"Oh, it's Wasabi and Honey Lemon!" she walked more quickly to the door to unlock it for them. Honey Lemon was in a walking boot, knee brace, and leaned against Wasabi while he carried one of her crutches. "This is a surprise. Come on in!"

"I had to come and help," Honey Lemon explained to the café owner.

"Oh goodness, you didn't have too!" Aunt Cass immediately felt bad after seeing her injuries.

"Honey insisted I bring her," Wasabi added. "She was not going to stop texting me until I did!"

"How are you?" Honey Lemon still managed to gingerly walk over Aunt Cass and give her a hug. "This must have been so scary! The restaurant I was working at just completely collapsed on us."

"Yes, it looks bad here, but I'm hoping it'll be fine," Aunt Cass patted her shoulder, but still held onto the tall girl for support. "Thank you, sweetie. But, you really need to take it easy for yourself!"

"Oh, I'm trying too, Auntie Cass… I was just going stir crazy just sitting around, worrying about you guys," Honey confessed.

"The others still here?" Wasabi wondered, glancing around. He handed the crutch back to Honey, motioning for her to use it too.

"They're upstairs," the short brunette sighed, glancing upward. "I'm worried if all of you should go up too. Not sure how sound the floors are there."

"I can scan the structures for any weak spots," Baymax informed her, as if on queue.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, Hiro has added programming for search and rescue missions."

"You can?" Aunt Cass stepped up to him. If that was the case, she may not need Hiro to clear everything away from all the walls. "Oh, this is wonderful… it'll save me from so much worry!"

"I will scan the upper structures for any damage now," Baymax proceeded toward the stairs to go up to the second floor living area.

"If there is damage, you may still need to clear that area," Wasabi offered, looking upwards to where Baymax went.

"Yes, but at least it will keep me from paying an additional inspection charge," Aunt Cass reasoned with them. She had to also wonder why Hiro did not tell her Baymax could do this. "Then I can put more into the repairs."

* * *

The three upstairs had gone into idle chit-chat, with the occasional instruction of what goes into where. Most of it was loose items that fell from the shelves by the side with Hiro's desk, his dirty laundry, clean laundry that was supposed to be put away, and the rest was just moving the dresser and chests away from the wall with the windows there. It hadn't been as bad of an experience as he feared it to be, so far.

Well, apart from having to explain why he got suddenly quiet when they came across a handful of sweatshirts, including his old navy hoodie, in a box. Hiro told them that a couple months ago, he found that they had little GPS trackers attached under the clothing tags on them. He noticed them after going through all the files and apps on his brother's tablet when looking for stuff in regards to Baymax. The younger discovered that one of the apps was a GPS tracking app. He also saw one blip still active in it, and it came from his favorite navy hoodie. That was when he fully understood, and soon did a more thorough inspection of his other clothes. Surprisingly, the new SFIT hoodie he wore now did not have one.

Gogo just shook her head, slowly. The others did not know about that detail, but it did explain why some nights Tadashi left the lab in a rush. Fred just rolled with it, naturally, and told Hiro he was just  _really_  that popular if everyone liked tracking his whereabouts. Yep, Tadashi was that hardcore about making sure he didn't get in over his head with the bot-fighting.

"This is also why it's sooo important to recycle, reuse, and reduce, little buddy," Fred teased the younger Hamada, just to change the subject when he came across yet another stray set of boxers.

"No it isn't!" GoGo audibly groaned.

Hiro had a comeback that most of his clothes were hand-me-down's anyway, but the sound of Honey Lemon's and Wasabi's voices coming up the stairs stopped his train of thought.

"Whoa, guess who's here!" Fred chimed in.

"Hey guys!" Honey Lemon waved. Again, she was getting a piggyback ride from Wasabi as he carried her up the stairs. "Yeah, I know what you're thinking… but I wanted to come over and help too."

The other two left the talking to Hiro at this point, as they looked back to him. He rubbed his neck, realizing how much they were also worried about him and his place.

Was this what it was like to have real friends? "Wow… yeah, thank you."

Wasabi knelt to let the tall blonde slide down, then held onto her arm while she attempted to stand. "It's okay. You got a lot to do here… and it'll be so much easier with some help," Honey Lemon told Hiro. Just the way she glanced around the attic reminded him that they hadn't really been up here after Tadashi was gone.

Hiro knew exactly what she meant too. Yes, they didn't know Tadashi as long as he did, they could only fathom what it was like for the both of them to grow up together in this house, this room. But his brother had become a good friend to all of them, so this was the least that they could do to share the burden.

"Oh… wait," Hiro suddenly thought to roll his computer chair over for Honey Lemon to sit on.

Aunt Cass also came up the stairs with more news, but she stayed in the stair well with Baymax close behind her. "Good news… the load bearing frame of the house is still solid. You won't need to clear out all the walls, just this wall here. But still clear away things from around the windows, because they need to be checked," she called out to them.

"Yes, Baymax scanned the whole frikin' house," Wasabi finally explained.

Fred raised an eyebrow, stifling a laugh. "He can do that?"

"The Lucky Cat needs healthcare too," GoGo stated sarcastically, before popping her gum.

"Okay, so I'm using Baymax as a beta for my other project this semester," Hiro quickly explained that, before changing topics. "But since you guys are here… might as well finish picking up this place."

"Righteo!" Fred stooped down to pick up a couple of Hiro's toy robots, and pretended they were fighting each other on their way back up to the shelf.

"Must be doing okay, since you're here," GoGo looked to Honey Lemon.

"I'm still sore, but yeah, I'll be okay," the chemist turned the chair to look over to Hiro. "Hey Hiro, I really do appreciate that you came yesterday to help. All you guys."

"Gotta do what we gotta do… we're a team, right?" Hiro smiled weakly, rubbing his arm nervously. "Sorry that we couldn't stay with you at the hospital though."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Hiro. Once the troublemakers left, it was really pretty dull," she shrugged.

"It was?" Wasabi found that surprising, all things considering.

"Yeah, apart from the surge of other people coming in for care."

Hiro looked around again and grabbed an empty box from his bed to drop on the floor. "Just put whatever that fell to the floor there. I'll put them back up later."

"You sure?" Wasabi looked at him. Of course, putting mismatched, unlike things in the same box would bother him.

"Yup."

"All this, over here, is his stuff anyway," Gogo leaned in to whisper to the physicist. It was more of that sense of knowing how much neater Tadashi was in comparison also. Even though the earthquake had knocked many things off the elder Hamada's shelves, the aftermath wasn't nearly as messy looking as Hiro's area. They were careful to not discuss why all of Tadashi's belongings were still there.

The group fell silent again for a few long minutes, with only Fred's humming as background noise as they picked up and placed things either in boxes, or to other areas of the room that was declared safe. The wall with two windows under his desk had to be fully cleared without a doubt. The patio door area was cleared from earlier, but the three other big bay windows were what his aunt wanted cleared. Two of these, their beds were in front of them.

"I guess everything's okay at your place?" Hiro asked Wasabi as he worked.

"It's alright. A big mess, but everything's chill."

"We'll just go to your place next to clean up!" Fred boldly suggested.

"No.. that's just fine! It's not that bad," the big guy was quick to refute.

"Your loss," GoGo teased him, knowing full well why he didn't want their help.

He just sighed. Wasabi straightened up to look around, mostly in search of a distraction. "So, the beds. Would you like me to push them away from the windows, little man?"

A good distraction it was, as it left Hiro thinking for a second or three before responding. His bed, yes, obviously. But his brother's bed? It no longer served its purpose anymore, and it was the one thing that bothered him the most about that side of the room. However… that what-if still nagged at him. He finally exhaled, realizing he was holding his breath and that the others were all now looking at him in That Way again. "Just move mine. Tadashi's… we can take it out."

"Yeah… okay," Wasabi nodded, a little more solemnly. He walked over to push Hiro's bed back, before asking for further instruction for the next steps.

"How do you want to do this?" Wasabi looked over to the younger Hamada.

"Probably need to pick up the stuff that fell there first, then move the mattresses downstairs," Hiro suggested. "I'll ask Aunt Cass what she wants to do."

"Gotcha," Wasabi nodded, before he and Hiro walked in that direction.

Honey Lemon was listening and decided to roll over on the chair toward that side of the attic to help. "I'll hand these books to you, to put on the shelves," she offered to Hiro.

"Actually… we can box up some of this too," he turned to look for another box. "Like the books, and other random stuff."

Wasabi stepped in carefully around the fallen items to check the shelves, to make sure the latches that held them to the walls were still okay. "Oh, whoa.. surfboard," he flinched slightly when the big board fell out from the space between the shelf and the wall.

"Um yeah, you can take that out too," Hiro smiled nervously. "Hadn't used that in a couple years."

"You guys surfed too?"

"Had," Hiro repeated himself. "It was a thing Aunt Cass had us try. Tadashi liked it more than I did."

"Wasn't that when Aunt Cass was dating a pro-surfer?" Honey Lemon finally asked.

"Yes, yes it was," Hiro wrinkled his nose, taking more books from her to put into a box. "That guy wasn't excited about the idea of settling down though."

"Probably for the better," she mused.

Wasabi pulled down some big boxes that had not fallen from the top shelves, and set them on the bed. He then looked in one sliding drawer, confirming his suspicions about its contents.

"S'kay to leave the clothes there though," Hiro spoke up when he saw his unsure expression.

"Well, y'know, I'm just going to leave the rest of this for you," Wasabi stepped back, agreeing that would be a good idea. Mostly just to avoid possibly coming across something he did not want to know about. He rustled Hiro's hair in a good natured way while he slid past him to the bigger area of the attic.

"Yeah… sorry if it's getting.. awkward," Hiro decided to be truthful with them about that.

"It's okay, Hiro," Honey Lemon had stood up momentarily, just to put an arm around his shoulders. "It's something that needs to be done."

"I know…" he whispered, then turned back toward the bed to pick up and move one of the boxes toward the middle of the room. It wasn't the first time he heard that, and that it was part of the healing process.

"That window area is cleared out," GoGo caught his attention, as she thumbed back to the corner bay window in the shared lounging area. "You need help here?"

"Yeah," Hiro looked back to look at his brother's shelving unit. "Just move some of the stuff off the bed, so we can get the mattresses out."

And as they did so, Fred paused when he saw the contents in one box. "Whoa, are these CD's? Totally classic, man. Does he also have cassette tapes too?"

"Um yeah. Not sure if there were cassettes too.. but those used to be our parents'."

"Your parents, like as in… their music collection?" Fred rose an eyebrow, especially after finding an old CD Walkman player inside, sans batteries. "And Tadashi also listened to them?"

"Yeah," Hiro answered slowly, wondering now where the fan-boy was going with this. At that point, Hiro just remembered how upset Tadashi used to be about the death of their parents when they were kids. Aunt Cass gave his brother the music as something to help soothe them. Tadashi didn't listen to them anymore by the time they were in high school. Or at least, Hiro wasn't aware of it.

"Oh man, he's totally like the Star Lord! You know, the head man for the Galaxy of the Guardians? He was also very, VERY fond of his late mom's mixed tapes!"

"Seriously, Fred?" Wasabi gave him an unsettled look of disbelief.

"Sorry, buddy, we hadn't listened to those in years," Hiro sighed, decidedly breaking the news to the hopeless fanboy. That was his answer, to through off the others. He realized maybe Fred also was telling him in his clever, subtle way that his brother was taken by aliens. Not a great idea either, because that made less sense than Tadashi being Callaghan's evil accomplice.

The redhead was still shuffling through some of the CD cases to see what artists were there, regardless. "Wow… David Bowie, Eagles, Aerosmith, Queen, classic U2… there's some good stuff here! You have anything we can play these on?"

"Uh.. there was my old all-in-one Dell over there, but it's not working very well after taking a nosedive off my desk." Hiro looked over to the monitor computer now sitting on the floor that had visible damage to one of its corners. "Wait, I thought you didn't like old music."

"Depends on what it is!" Fred sat on the floor by the box. He had pulled out the CD Walkman and held it up, as if to suggest nonverbally that could work. "The cheesy 80's rock is so hit and miss. Man… what was that one?"

Hiro just rose an eyebrow, somewhat apprehensive, because he feared what would come next.

"Taaaake me on! Take on me, I'll be gooone!" Fred belted out the chorus from that one A-ha song, in true karaoke fashion.

"Are you done? Or do I need to make you a knuckle sandwich?" the speed queen sassed in reply.

"So, are we going to do this or not?" Wasabi thumbed back to the bed that now had its comforter and sheets pulled off of it.

"Yes, right," Hiro looked at the mattresses in thought. "So… GoGo and I take the mattress, and you and Fred get the boxspring? Just cause that looks heavier."

"Sure."

As soon as Hiro and GoGo lifted the mattress vertical and made a step forward, they were stopped by the abrupt commentary coming from the others.

"I was wondering when we were going to come across  _those_ ," Wasabi shook his head.

Hiro was in lead with the mattress, so after he was able to set it down was he able to see what the fuss was about. And then he was quickly regretting it. At least it explained why Honey Lemon was turning a bit red in the face.

Trying to keep his face as straight as possible, Fred swooped in to collect the handful of skin magazines, then presented them to Hiro. "Keepsakes."

 _What the… gross!_ Hiro feigned an uneasy smile, taking the magazines from the red-head. It wasn't the idea of the naughty material in itself that didn't appeal to him, it was the fact his brother  _used_  them.. for whatever means he did not want to think about right now. Nope, not going to happen, and the younger Hamada dropped them in the box they designated for trash on his way back to the front of the mattress. Alive or not, he highly doubted his brother would actually miss those.

"I hope you were  _joking_ ," Hiro heard Wasabi ask Fred as he and GoGo started with the mattress down the stairs. He also thought he heard Honey Lemon giggle.

Once they completed the task of moving Tadashi's old bed, and witnessing Aunt Cass's moment of astonishment for doing so, she presented them a lunch of egg sandwiches, deviled eggs, and a few peeled hard boiled eggs with Baymax style eyes. Just because.

"Yum, protein power!" They took the plates of food upstairs so they could also talk about their next plan while they finished up.

"So, what's up with all the gangs that you ran into yesterday?" Honey finally asked, looking more in Hiro's and Fred's direction. She had been texting with Gogo and Wasabi the previous night to find out more of the details, but they hadn't been saying too much.

"They're on to us, as Big Hero 6," Hiro said, in between bites of his sandwich.

"Apparently, they were from Yama's gang… and they hadn't forgotten the wonderful time they got to spend in jail, courtesy of the Hamada brothers," GoGo decided to be creative in how she explained the scenario that was discussed earlier.

"Which means…" Wasabi looked from her to Hiro.

"They know who I am, now," he finished the physicist's thought.

The others were silent for a beat, letting that news sink in for Wasabi and Honey Lemon.

Wasabi held his eye contact on the younger Hamada, pointing at him with his finger as he leaned forward. "Just you. They only know about  _you_ , correct?"

"Yes… I think," Hiro winced, suddenly not feeling so sure. He had used the main reasoning of the earlier times when he used to bot fight as the explanation for the current uprising. "I mean, I'm the only one who they have a problem with… since I also messed up their betting pool, by winning when I shouldn't."

"However... by association, Big Hero 6 now is involved," GoGo concluded.

"So, what do you have in mind?" Honey Lemon wondered.

"Stake out their territory and find out what's really going on," Hiro said. "We're going to a bot fight."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight."

"It makes sense, really," Hiro further justified this plan. "They just cleaned up with all the places they looted. So there's going to be a lot more at stake. But all we are doing, is just watching. Checking to see who is working for Yama now… things like that."

"But how? We can't just waltz in, either way," Wasabi could not wait any longer to ask.

"Under cover, of course!" Fred chimed in with his usual animated style, a deviled egg in each hand. "We can totally moonlight like secret agents. You guys only saw  _half_  of the limitless possibilities available to us in that other room in my house!"

At that, GoGo stepped over to whisper something to Honey Lemon. She stole a glance toward Hiro and smiled with a giggle, as the speed queen nodded slowly. He already knew.

"I was never in agreement with that!" Hiro quickly refuted.

"It's the only way they will  _not_  easily recognize you, genius," GoGo crossed her arms.

Wasabi could only imagine what this was about as he overheard the cryptic conversation.

"My little sister is only 12, but her clothes look like his size!" Honey was already visibly caught up with new ideas on how to dress up the team genius, as a girl.

"If not, I might have something he can wear too," GoGo thought, with a devious grin.

"He's going to be so cute!" Honey squeed softly.

Hiro paced nervously a little again, then stopped to counter with GoGo. Even if this idea came as a second level, twisted form punishment for going to the bot fights again. "You're going as a guy, GoGo… since you think that one Fujita girl saw you too."

"If that's what you want," GoGo rolled her eyes to annoy him. It made no difference to her, really.

"All of us can't go though," Hiro continued, "Just to be less obvious. And because of the injuries."

Fred more or less conceded earlier it was better to not go, since he wasn't sure of his knee. Honey Lemon was a given. "We have to think up something for Wasabi, just so his dreads aren't so obvious."

"I  _am_  going?"

"Yes, as back-up," Hiro confirmed. "Since l decided to not bring Baymax."

"Um, okay," Wasabi now looked ever more uneasy.

"Don't worry… you'll still be a guy. A really tough looking gangster guy," Fred slapped his shoulder.

"I do hope you can pull  _that_  off," GoGo teased the neat-freak physicist.

"The only time we'll be using Baymax is to find out where the Fujita are," the young leader added. "He did scan her in the mall yesterday, so we can find her again by having him do another fly-by before we head out."

"Wait, who are the Fujita, exactly?" Wasabi still was not feeling comfortable about all this.

"Three women. They're Yama's Elite, and when they are around… he means business," GoGo was first to explain.

"As in: they are not as easy to knock around like the other guys," Fred smacked his fist into his hand, to drive home that point.

"What are we doing if they  _are_  there?"

"Just verifying."

"And possibly tracking, if I can find something that we can tag them with, inconspicuously," the agent wanna-be rubbed his hands together.

"This is really a high stakes operation, so we have to be completely sure about the situation before we get more involved," GoGo looked at all of them with utmost seriousness. Hiro nodded in agreement.

* * *

The three took a bus downtown, one of the few bus lines that made an effort to be operational. They did not sit in the same seats either, and appeared to not acknowledge each other on the bus, just in case.

The Gothic Japanese girl blankly stared out the window at the darkened streets brightened by the neon signs. Her dark eyes were framed with smoky plum eyeshadow, and her thin lips were dark with a plum red lipstick. The goth had long dark hair with neon green highlights throughout, pulled back into a couple of looped pigtails. She looked uncomfortable as she sat in the bus seat, trying to keep her knees held together. The tall boots that were laced up to her knees also had platform soles with five inch high heels. Plus the slight girl wore a leather jacket and dark red ruffled skirt with black and white banded tights, but just trying to sit naturally was not easy.

The young Asian man nearby, with his hair tied back in a man-bun, pulled up the hood on his dark green sweet shirt to ignore the girl's awkward posture. With a sigh, he leaned forward on his elbows to pretend he was looking at his cell phone. He gently rubbed at the short bristles of his goatee on his chin, a subtle way to make sure the manicured fibers stayed in place.

In the back of the bus, a larger African American with a scowl on his face, sat with his arms crossed. He was also by himself in the back seat area, as no one else on the bus felt they would be safe sitting next to him. His clothes were grungy, and consisted of a grey sweatshirt, a black down jacket, and worn jeans. He also wore a faded red knit hat covering his hair. The uncleanliness of his outfit had made it so much easier for him to feel as grumpy as he looked.

Finally, the bus came to a stop near the intersection of their destination. The gothic girl exited from the front door by the driver, while the young man stepped off the door in the back of the bus. The bigger man in back was going to wait until the next stop before he got off.

The fight rings are always in a different location every time, just to keep the authorities from catching on. This time, it was in an abandoned opera theater building that had quite a bit of visible earthquake damage from the outside. The girl looked back once to the other one walking a few feet behind, before carefully stepping around the rubble and bending down under the remnants of the doorway.

The air was thick and musty, but faint sounds of the audience's jeers and the resounding echo of metal clashing with metal became audible the further they walked down the dark hallway. Lights shown from a doorway on the left, that lead into a grand auditorium. Plaster and ceiling tiles littered the vacant seats and aisle ways of the theater. However, the crowds were mostly concentrated around the stage below.

It was a Big Bot Battle this time, when they caught glimpses of the robots heads well above the crowd that surrounded the make-shift ring. With the advances in technology for robotics, and the competition between this city and their rivaling cities in the Silicon Valley and Japan itself, the Big Bot Battles (aka the BBB's) were gaining in popularity. The stakes were much higher too, as the minimum amount to get in the pool was five hundred dollars. These, however, were like the minor rookie league bot fights in comparison to the high-class pro fights like the Worldwide Robot Boxing (WRB).

The BBB's simply were insane to watch, let alone partake in. Needless to say, the disguised bot-fighter had been to a handful of these matches earlier, just barely winning them. And tonight, the atmosphere felt heavy with the added earthquake theme. Many more people were mingling with the crowd, looking to make sales from the drugs, liquor, and other items they looted earlier. She was careful to move closer to the ring to avoid those hustlers.

For a moment, watching the match made the Japanese goth forget the awkwardness of her outfit. She was quick to recognize one of the robots in this match. The menacing red one was called Red Hot, and liked to use blow torch guns as its weapon of choice. The other robot it was up against looked new. Its arms turned into sledgehammer pile drivers. Obviously, it went by the name Sledgehammer. Along with the creative use of their weapons, the robots used a mix of martial arts, kicks, and boxing maneuvers as they fought.

"Hey m'lady, are you 'in' tonight?" a dark skinned hustler nudged her arm, trying to look as warm and inviting as possible. He apparently had noticed her arrival, as not too many girls come by themselves to these kind of fights, just to watch.

"I.. no... not now. I'm just meeting up with someone," she tried to strain her voice to sound more alto. The goth also made use of the resurging fad that had been common in ancient Japan for geisha. They had blackened their teeth to keep their smile modest, but she did it to make her tell-tale tooth gap less noticeable in the dim lighting. She also hoped her answer was enough for him to leave her alone.

"Alrighty then. So, come see me when you want in on the action. The next match is gonna be rocking it!, y'know! Slip me a little dough, and in you go," his eyes sparkled with his charms, and not giving in to her hint to leave her alone.

The goth nodded politely while fingering the front edge of her black leather jacket in a subtle attempt to pull it more closed. She knew the guy was also fishing around for money-hungry onlookers willing to lay it all down on their favorite pick. This was the other way Yama got the money to line his pockets from these fights, and why he preferred to keep the outcome in his control. Of course, declining the offer might cause the ring hustler to red-flag her as trouble, so she had come prepared.

"Who's up next?" she couldn't help but wonder now.

"Oh… Quake Master vs the Monkey King," he flashed a smile again, showing his gold tooth. The ring hustler didn't need to supply any further background upon seeing the acknowledgement in her eyes.

Just from the young bot-fighter's previous experience, she knew both robots were owned by members in Yama's gang. The Monkey King, however, was now Yama's favorite. It actually was more like the robotic equivalent of King Kong, and build to withstand a beating. He was also very good at giving one hell of a beat down. Everyone would probably pick that one to win, just because it was so obvious that the Monkey King could hold his own against the smaller competitor.

She has seen this before though, how Yama likes to play with everyone's perceptions. Betting was not really her choice, and not because it was illegal. It just didn't feel as satisfying as actually winning the money from a good fight. But she felt she had to do something to get rid of this guy. "$500 on Quake Master," she stated.

"Awww… y' sure, sweets?" the man clicked his tongue in surprise as he typed in the data.

"Yes, I'm sure. My friend's probably betting on the other one," she smiled briefly. Her suspicions about the match possibly being rigged were confirmed from his prompt.

"What's your name, love?" he smiled a little too warmly while typing in the rest.

"Hinata," she took a step back. The flirtatious way the hustler kept looking at her was so uncomfortable. It was bad enough noticing how much the guy would steal glance or three at her fake chest, which had been a stuffed bra underneath her tight black shirt. The hustler finally left her side though, looking for easier game.

" _$500? Really!?_ " A tiny voice resonated inside her mouth, from her back molars by her inner ear. She and her distant comrade had dental comm-link devices inside their mouths to keep all three of them in on their conversations.

"Chill," Hinata spoke quietly, without moving her lips. " _Not_  betting will RF me."

Toshi appeared right behind her, clapping an arm around her shoulders. She jumped a little in alarm from that action. "Losing the bet… just as bad," he leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"I had a feeling," she looked sidelong to him once she got over her shock of his sudden shoulder clap. Toshi looked over to the last round as it wrapped up, sighing audibly. Hinata could tell from her friend's expression that this level of bot fight was something very new to him. Toshi had that look which hovered between being concerned an amazed by the whole thing.

"When did you start coming to  _these_? I thought the 'bots were… smaller," Toshi finally asked.

Hinata decided to not respond to his question. The slender goth spotted a make-shift plywood board posting the robots that have fought against the reigning champions, and survived to fight for another day. The goth paused after seeing Mega-Z in the list, and silently wondered how much Toshi noticed. "The next match are both Yama's… but the Monkey King is his fav."

The crowds cheers and jeers picked up as the next match got ready to go up. Quake Master became visible, and stood barely six feet tall. He was primarily a shiny dark silver, with glowing blue and neon green lighting under the dark pieces of armor. Its feet from below the knee joints looked like pile drivers, and then on its chest were a few circles across the chest area.

" _Have you seen them yet_?" a different masculine voice resonated in broadcast in their mouths, almost as if to get them back on track.

"No," Hinata knew who he was referring to. She had quietly hoped that the other Fujita girls would be seen at some point during the night. The ring announcer with the eye patch, she was there. She didn't fully realize before that one was also a Fujita. Really, she hardly looked like the other girl from the mall. The ring MC was more rough around the edges, giving Hinata the impression she was maybe one of Yama 's 'ladies'. Well, she was, in a different way, but she wasn't the one they sought.

The crowd thinned away more around Quake Master's controller now. Hinata wanted to know for sure who was manning both bots this time. The young bot fighter noticed that Yama sometimes did not show up as the controller, and would send others to be in charge of his bots instead. She figured it was a protective measure, so that in the event of another police bust, Yama would be able to stay out of it. For Quake Master, a slightly burly thug had guided the bot to the ring, but he and the bot just stood there as if on stand by while the Monkey King came bounding in.

The compact, black robot's frame looked and moved much like a gorilla on all four limbs. Monkey King's controller took the crowd by surprise, as many began to boo in both English and Japanese about Yama not representing the fight. The goth recognized the young man as the one that was with the girl in the mall yesterday. Then the ring MC announced him as Yama's son, Kenochi, but quickly dubbed him as 'Little Yama'. The sneer he gave her showed that he was just as cocky.

" _Becoming a family affair now_ ," Toshi's voice echoed sarcastically.

Hinata just snorted. Despite the imposing appearance of the robots, the skill of their human counterpart ultimately determined how well they fought. Some of the crowd got restless, fearing that the match was going to be a bust. She also had to admit, this was the first one she was at with Yama's son being one of the competitors. Which further fueled her suspicions that Yama did have something up his sleeve.

Quake Master continued to stand motionless at his side of the ring, while the Monkey King put on his little show of kicks and flips. She began to hear whispers around him too, of people growing restless in anticipation of the match.

"Are you ready to ruuuumble?!" the MC continued to taunt her audience, with that overused catch phrase. "Let's show Little Yama here what we've got for him toooonight!"

Quake Master jumped to life, jumping up to execute a flying spin kick before landing again on the stage in a low crouch. Dust came up from the wooden slats on the stage floor were the ring was marked off.

"Who's ready for another shaker, baby?" a new female voice echoed, before Quake Master's actual controller walked into view. She was a Japanese lady who wore a modernized geisha dress with a shorter hem that stopped above her knee. Her hair was long and straight, and she wore it down with the exception of a couple embellishments to keep the hair away from her face. She also had a simple mic hooked from her right ear. The new contender did not get an introduction, as she decided to let her robot speak with its own actions.

Hinata looked at the new face with some suspicion, trying to figure her out. She did not hold anything in his hands to control her robot, however. Nor did she make any fighting motion for the robot to copy. With the grace of a martial arts master, the glowing steel grey robot stepped forward with a power packed sidekick and landed firm to snap out a double knife hand block to impress the crowd. The two robotic contenders straightened up, then faced each other to begin.

"This is a fight to the finiiiish!" this time the announcer held out a large, ornate folding fan, to wave between the two. "Hajime!"

"It's her," Hinata finally breathed, trying to not just stare directly at Quake Master's controller for too much longer. It was the dragon tattoos that she finally spotted on her thighs that made it certain. "It's her… and how is she—"

Those embellishments in her hair…. no, how did she get a hold of that tech? It was refined, because at first glance, the women's hair band definitely looked just like that. A hairband. Somehow, they had built a neurotransmitter device similar to what he had made. Or gotten the designs from Callaghan, and/or SFIT, somehow.

"Great… mystery girl is also a Bot fighter. Can we go now?" the other masculine voice wondered, the tinny voice echoing slightly in her head.

"No… not yet," Hinata whispered. "After the fights over." Only because it might backfire even more if they left, and they also owed money. But she still doubted that would happen. That, and the more she watched, the more she had that sneaking feeling they staged all this in case she would come.

Monkey King started off strong, bounding on to Quake Master's back to pummel at the blocky robot's bucket head. Quake Master could not pull off the pesky robot, and so did the next best thing he could. The steely robot jumped and twisted just so that he could squash the robot against the floor. The wood of the stage itself cracked from the force, also stunning the gorilla bot. It took a couple long seconds before Monkey King rose, but he was more than angered. Naturally, Quake Master had to be a showboat and raise the roof while waiting. The monkey bot screamed with renewed determination as he ran with a flying side kick into Quake Masters back.

The blocky robot stumbled to his knees, but turned sharply while rising up to counter that. He threw a sidekick followed with a pile driver packed back kick to pummel the smaller opponent. Upon spinning back around to face the Monkey King, the quick robot used a double palm blast, fueled with electro-magnets, to throw his opponent back out of bounds.

"That.. looks  _familiar_ …"

"Yeah..." The electro-magnetic palm blast was what he built first into his supersuit. Hinata felt more of that unsettling sinking feeling as Toshi curtly stared at her in response. She decided to edge through the crowd, away from him, to get a better spot close to Quake Master's side of the ring. He could understand how they picked up on his technical ideas, since the tech the robots possess is not copyrighted. If the competitors have the savvy ingenuity to reverse engineer their own similar tech, there was nothing really stopping that. Hence the reason why Hinata decided to upgrade Megabot to something different. While he had used the electro-magnetic blasters before, the neurotransmitter method was something he had no longer attempted due to its association with Yokai.

She squinted her eyes in thought, wondering the how and why they got it. If course, Hinata had the advanced AI with a martial arts directory for Mega Z, so a controller was not necessary. Maybe they could not get that figured out, and adapted the neurotransmitter concept instead? It just left her wondering how they got it.

The crowd's cheers suddenly increased when the Monkey King rose from the floor after one of his detached arms reconnected back into the socket. Then he grabbed his other arm and slapped it upside the Quake Master's face to stun the approaching robot long enough for the monkey bot to reattach his other arm.

All by the means of magnetic servos, of course. All of Monkey King's limbs were held on this way, Hinata imagined. That made for some frustrating times for the Quake Master, since pulling off the monkey bot's extremities did nothing to slow him down.

It looked like the Monkey King was making headway after his rough start, but then when he got too close to Quake Masters chest, emblazoned with more inset electro magnets, the monkey bot found himself caught up by the strong magnetic attraction. He was stuck to his opponent, their faces only inches apart. Trying to push away did not work, and nether did trying to butt heads or prying at each others optics. Apparently, the powerful bot had enough playtime with his prey. Quake Master wrapped his arms around the resisting monkey bot, and began to squeeze hard. The Monkey King practically screamed in contempt from system failure, in having its circuit boards and internal processors compressed and broken.

Now silenced, the crumpled shape was released from the victory chest to fall to the floor, finished.

"Eat that, Little Yama. That is how the Fujita rock the hooouse!" the Ring announcer stepped up, to declare the winner. "Give it all up for the Quake Mastaaaaah!"

The crowd erupted, awash with all kinds of emotions.

" _Now, go!_ " The voice echoed in Hinata's head. " _Do not stop to collect … just go!_ "

Hinata complied without argument this time, since things might get more crazy afterwards. Already he could tell from the nature of this match, they must have figured her team would be watching it. Somehow. She kept her gaze down, doing her best to slip slide through the pushing and shoving crowd to leave without attracting attention.

* * *

Once the three had regrouped back at the bus top by Wasabi's apartment, they finally dropped their cover.

"Hot damn… what did I just see back there?" Wasabi exclaimed, once they were all inside his place. Of course, he immediately peeled off the most disgusting sweat shirt he wore.

"Exactly, how did they a hold of your tech?" Gogo looked at the femme Hiro.

"They didn't!" Hiro looked up from pulling off the god-awful, high-heeled boots from his aching feet. Sheepish was the best way to describe the look on his face. "I think… they knew I was going to find them tonight. Like that was their way of saying 'Gotcha'. Because… even though it's normal for bot fighters to reverse engineer ideas from other fighters, I never saw all my inventions happen at the same time like that before!"

GoGo just made a sound of disgust.

"So, now what?"

"I have to think this out... now that we know who we are dealing with," Hiro sighed. He pulled the wig from his head, frowning at it in thought. The way that one Fujita fought showed that she knew her stuff, unlike the other thugs who were lucky to get by with their weapons. "Just… get me some make-up remover first."

GoGo just laughed, still looking quite serious. "The eyeshadow's rather becoming."

"No. Just… no!" He furrowed his thinned brows.

* * *

Sweat trickled down his brow, stinging his eyes briefly, as he tried once again to think of yet another angle to attack. Hiro step-slided to the right to dodge a sweep to his head, then countered with a few rapid punches to the chest plate. His first punch didn't land hard enough, the rest were evaded. His opponent turned away from him, then came back hard. This maneuver caused him to knock knees with the other one, inadvertently blocking their attacks. His opponent attempted to tag him with a few hits of her own. That left him free to counter her with a roundhouse kick followed with a high axe kick toward the head. Hiro had caught his attacker off guard with that maneuver, but her reaction time was faster and he still wasn't able to nail her squarely.

She taunted him, as they paused for a moment, circling each other. Then she slid in and pushed against him, getting so close he couldn't kick or punch in that split second of time. This only angered him more, because he did not like feeling outsmarted and slow. Then she faked him out, appearing throw a roundhouse kick at his side, but very quickly she snapped her foot high at his head. He was barely able to dodge that, and while it did not make hard contact, she had touched his headgear lightly. No points though.

Hiro grimaced, trying to catch his breath and mentally push himself despite his discomfort. He stepped forward with his own fake motion before switching feet to attack with a double roundhouse combo. One kick landed, barely registering again. The young hero tried to punch, but she shoved into him again so he couldn't. He pushed back, then turned behind to execute a flying back kick to push her further away as he yelled. Any type of spinning kicks were more points, if he had the power and coordination to successfully perform them. Except he wasn't powerful enough yet.

Before Hiro could get both feet back on the mat to jump away, his attacker pummeled him with a series of roundhouse kicks followed with more punches to his chest plate, signaling a buzzer to chirp.

 _Damn_... The frustrated boy was quick to block the rest of the punches, before stepping forward with an elbow sweep to her headgear. She dodged that one barely, but this time countered it with a surprise uppercut punch to her chin which had knocked her off balance ever so slightly. The buzzer chirped in his favor, and he gritted down on his mouth guard in victory. Any strike to the head that did not cause injury did merit more points, giving him that much needed advantage.

However, his victory was extremely fleeting before GoGo came at him with a barrage of skipping front and double roundhouse kicks to his chest targets, putting her one point ahead again.

Hiro did his best to retaliate with a tornado kick, followed with a front crescent kick to drive her back, but all that ended up being for show as he did not make solid contact.

Unfortunately, Wasabi shouted times up, just as GoGo blocked and then caught one of Hiro's punches. This time she held his arm to give him a strong kick to his rib-cage, opposite of the side that had the stitches. That hit did not count though since she had pinned him and it was after the call.

"One point deduction!" Wasabi reprimanded GoGo, finding that move uncalled for.

"He hit me in the face, hard!" she growled back through her mouth guard at the larger man.

"You didn't need to add insult to injury!"

She just glared at him, before turning back to face Hiro.

Hiro did not acknowledge her right away while he gasped for air. His windpipe burned as he tried to slow his ragged breathing just enough to actually catch his breath. His pained expression, however, came more from the disappointment of being one point off from actually and finally beating the quick and fast Black Belt. The deduction meant nothing to him… the bottom line was what he himself did in the time he had. His biggest concern was more in knowing that if he couldn't beat her, then how could he hold his own against Yama's elite?

Before finishing, Hiro at least remembered to also face GoGo and give her his respects for the match. The look she gave him wasn't any more encouraging as she set her sore jaw and popped the joints in her neck.

She led with the bow, not saying anything more as he reluctantly followed suit a beat after. Hiro stepped off the matt, glancing once at her, before spitting out his mouth piece and pulling off his sparring headgear.

Since GoGo in theory won that round, she was paired with Wasabi next. Hiro didn't argue since he needed the break. The speed queen popped out her mouthpiece to chug more water, wiping the sweat beading at her brow. She pointed to Wasabi, still upset from the last match. "Just remember this, there are  _no_  rules in a street fight!"

"Seriously dude, you almost had her. That was amazing!" Fred cheered their youngest teammate.

"Yeah, good job, Hiro!" Honey added as well. Since she could not participate, she watched the stop-watch to time the matches.

"Not good enough," Hiro whispered, before he finally took his eyes off of GoGo and turned toward the benches along the walls of the small work out room in Fred's house. He was still struggling to breath, wincing from the burn in his lungs from exerting himself so hard. The teen grabbed his water bottle to take a gulp of the cool liquid to help alleviate that feeling.

"Hey, what's going on?" Fred then leaned into him, whispering.

"Didn't like my technique," Hiro just shook his head, glancing once more at Gogo sparring with Wasabi. She wasn't happy with the way he aimed for her head more, but he didn't want to talk about it now. He knew why. A part of him also forgot who he was fighting.

"Obviously," Fred mused. "'Cause now she's totally taking it out on Wasabi."

"Are you okay?" Honey touched Hiro's arm. She was even more concerned about his pained, shallow breathing, however.

"Hurts to breathe," he finally admitted. The young genius really must have over exerted himself that time, bringing on a bout of exercise-induced asthma. This happened to him a couple times before during their training sessions, so she knew what he meant.

Honey Lemon handed the stopwatch to Fred, and encouraged Hiro to slide over to her. "Keep taking in deep breaths, okay?" she rubbed his back, then put a small cold, damp towel on his neck.

The younger Hamada set his other water bottle on the floor so he could rub his face. He looked up again to watch the match, trying to calm down. Wasabi's style used more precise and powerful kicks, combined with effective blocks. Hiro noticed Wasabi took more time strategizing his attacks. He and GoGo would bounce, almost like he was stalling, but whenever she made a move, more times than not he was more than ready and dodged her advances. His attacks came hard, fast, and accurate, since he had just as much martial arts experience. In comparison to his teammates, GoGo and Wasabi were the only two Hiro had not won a match with. Fred and Honey Lemon really did not have much actual martial arts experience before, so their matches often had been with each other, and with Hiro, until they did feel more comfortable taking on their more experienced friends.

Wasabi called a brief time-out to shake off the sharp pain that resulted when his knee collided with the knee of the kick boxing champion. He would always stop himself, but she came full force like a MMA fighter.

Getting herself back into check, GoGo knelt down by Wasabi to quickly check his knee. Since he was wearing shorts, she could not see any bruising or swelling yet. "You'll live," she straightened up. "Finish this now. Ice it later."

" _Hai, hajime_!" The remaining twenty seconds flew by, with it also being a close match. GoGo won, despite Wasabi's protests.

Until Hiro's house was repaired enough to be deemed safe, they had no choice but to meet at Fred's house for all their training sessions. Today was a combo of both traditional and superhero styles, since the earthquake and the Thanksgiving holiday threw off their schedule. The difference between the two types of practice was also as different as night and day. When they trained with their supersuits, the suits either gave them new powers, or amplified what they had, making them so much more powerful against each other.

With his suit on, Hiro was able to deflect GoGo's metallic disks, Honey Lemon's chemicals, and Fred's flames with his magnetic shields. Wasabi's blades were still something of a challenge though since the big guy was able to maneuver around his shield. As he had found out before, Wasabi was calculating and quick. If the attack wasn't straight on, it somehow got through.

"Okay," Hiro noted the completion of the Tae Kwon Do sparring matches. "Let's suit up."

"Doing better?" Honey Lemon still asked him. She still sat on the bench, as she wasn't going to take her chances either way.

"Yeah, thanks," Hiro smiled weakly. Maybe this time, he would do better. The younger Hamada sighed, fidgeting with his water bottle as Gogo quickly dissappeared to get changed. He was going to have to say something to her, first.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... my longest chapter yet… yey! I hope it was well worth the wait!
> 
> So… I finally read this BH6 Essential Guide book that said Tadashi DID sew trackers into Hiro hoodies. That's for reals? Really? Blah… I thought it was a head canon. But I guess that makes sense, since Hiro doesn't carry a phone.
> 
> On another note…. I was also a fan of the Real Steel movie. A lot. Totally had to incorporate some of the big bot atmosphere from that movie's bot fights into this fic also. ^^
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So please, sit back and enjoy this crazy, emotional rollercoaster of a chapter!
> 
> (Warnings again for some graphic/ horror depictions and gun violence)

 

 _The colors conflicted_  
As the flames climbed into the clouds.  
I wanted to fix this  
But couldn't stop from tearing it down.

 _And you were there at the turn_  
Caught in the burning glow  
And I was there at the turn  
Waiting to let you know

" _Burn It Down" by Linkin Park_

* * *

The campus still had some clean-up in lesser areas, but with the end of semester deadlines looming close, it was decided to open the campus for classes for the afternoon and evening hours on Tuesday, and until five pm on Wednesday evening. This time was also used to reassure many students in person, and via electronic methods, that their will be an extension on deadlines provided to those who need that extra time.

Her youngest nephew was one of those people, and he was back at SFIT again that afternoon getting what he could done. His friends verified that, when she called earlier that evening when Hiro had not come home for dinner.

Another lonely dinner by herself, with her laptop, and Mochi.

After the bewitching hour passed, Aunt Cass finally retired to her bedroom, but she still worried. It was times like this that she had appreciated just how responsible and selfless Tadashi had become to keep tabs on his younger brother. She didn't know what to make of Hiro lately. The way he started slipping out at odd hours of the night again, behind her back, really started to bother her. Even if it was just to be a vigilante, he could at least tell her where he was going and when he would be back. There was nothing more unsettling than believing that her remaining nephew was in the garage, or upstairs, only to find no one there.

The worried café owner seriously reconsidered lifting the previous ban and getting him his own phone again. Hopefully this time he wouldn't hack it, or whatever it is he does to reinvent technology, and cost her a fortune on the data charges again. However, he probably would ignore her calls, like he often does with her texts.

Aunt Cass had almost dozed off to sleep, when she was startled awake from a thunk of something dropped to the floor, most likely Hiro's backpack. Mochi stood up from his spot on her bed with ears perked. Soon they heard the sounds of the refrigerator and cabinet doors opening and closing in the kitchen. She stretched and blinked away her sleepiness before getting up to leave her bedroom.

"Hey sweetie," Aunt Cass softly greeted her nephew. Mochi jumped up on the counter also, to see what Hiro was doing.

Her presence must have given him a start, she noticed, when his hand jerked while peeling off the top from a bowl of uncooked Ramen noodles.

"Hi, Aunt Cass," Hiro turned to look once at her.

"There's some leftovers in the fridge I can heat up," she offered, stepping closer.

"S' okay, I'm fine," he shrugged. He looked tired, so tired at that point, as he struggled a moment to break the seal on the lid of the bottled water before pouring it into an electric hot pot to boil.

"Everything back on track at the Institute?" the aunt decided to ask a more general question. Sometimes she didn't have to ask him directly about how he himself was. Just looking at him often told her if her youngest was having a good day or not. She remembered then a tip she got from one of her friends who was also a mom with teenagers. Sometimes it was better to be more supportive and less threatening, all while still holding the role of authority. Sounded easy, but wow.. her youngest nephew just was not your typical teenager, even if his adventurous nature often reminded her of her sister.

Right now, Hiro didn't look very happy and the circles under his eyes were evident again from lack of sleep. His dark eyes, framed by his long bangs, were a little more shifty about actually making eye contact with her. And, she decided, it must be the dim lightening and her own tired eyes, making Hiro's eyebrows appear thinner than usual. Yep, her eyes were definitely playing tricks on her.

"Yep… no problem," the younger Hamada seemed intent on willing the pot to bowl faster by staring at it.

"Going back in tomorrow?" Aunt Cass asked, opening the refrigerator. She disregarded what he told her earlier about not making him something, to get a stalk of celery, one green onion, a hard boiled egg, and a half empty package of imitation crabmeat sticks. Just some more ingredients to make his Ramen a little more substantial.

"Yeah, I still have a lot to do," he glanced once in her direction, shifting his stance as if restless.

A part of her really wondered about that, all things considering. Since he didn't seem to be trying to evade her yet, she felt now was a good time to bring up her other concern.

"I did get an email today from your English Lit professor. He's worried about the fact that you haven't been coming to class, and missing out on some quizzes and assignments. He actually recommended that you drop his class to keep that from affecting your overall GPA," Aunt Cass paused from preparing the food to try to make eye contact with her nephew. It was something that had come up when he was in high school. English and literature was the one area he wasn't especially good at, and the jumps in grades had the unexpected effect of skipping over even more important details that would have helped him understand it. Only through some additional tutoring sessions, and homework help from Tadashi, that he was able to catch up.

"Hiro, are you having trouble with English again, now that it's at college level?"

He did pause a second before responding. "No… it's not that. Just.. really kind of early. That's the 8:30 class," he feigned a smile of innocence. He was trying to hide something again.

"That didn't stop you from going to high school,  _every_  morning before," she smartly countered that response, while reaching over to wrap an arm around his shoulders to pull him closer. "Of course, you could just  _not_  sneak out on those nights when you need to wake up early for class."

Hiro just sighed audibly, edging away ever so slightly after she released him. "Of course… sorry."

Aunt Cass noticed his unease, and reminded herself to keep her cool. "Don't think because you're in college, you can do whatever you want, mister. I still need to know!" she pointed the green onion she held at him in warning before chopping it up. After all, he was just fourteen, and college life was certainly not at all like high school. It was a whole different level of responsibility geared for those in their late teens, early twenties.

"Yes, Aunt Cass," he fidgeted with the lid from the water bottle on the counter.

Then the water finally reached boiling as the steam poured from the spout on the pot. She noticed Hiro's eyes brighten at that point, as it signaled that his awkward wait was over. Aunt Cass was quick to put the chopped veggies on top of the Ramen in the plastic bowl before he poured the boiling water in it.

"Are you going to drop the class then?" she finally asked, the sternness still in her voice.

"I… I'll find out if I can make up what I missed."

"That sounds like a better plan," Aunt Cass sliced up the peeled hard-boiled egg and a crab-leg stick to put on top of his steeping Ramen too.

"I'll ask him tomorrow… it'll be okay," he did his best to reassure her again, while finding a set of chopsticks.

"Thank you, sweetie. Let me know how it goes," she set the chopping board and knife by the sink. Then she hugged him again. "I'm going to bed. Try to get some sleep too, okay?"

"Okay… G'night."

* * *

Hiro felt much more free again after Aunt Cass went to bed. She held her temper this time, but it still didn't sit well with him that she knew about his problem with his English Lit class. Of course, she would get that email too. He was still a minor and she was required to know all those things as far as his classes were concerned. At least she didn't seem to know about what exactly he had been going out at night for. Nor was he ever going to tell his aunt about nearly getting shot or the crazy undercover stunt from the other night. He glanced to Mochi, who currently seemed more interested with what was on his ramen.

 _She's still pissed. Totally.. pissed…_ the young genius sighed, picking off a bit of crabmeat for Mochi to eat.

His failing grades were proof that he was letting his academics slide for something that he considered to be way more important again. It had gotten so annoying to have to worry about this on top of everything else.

Hiro turned off the kitchen light and carried his Ramen bowl over to the coffee table in front of the couch. The garage was still a mess, and his room was short of being a construction site. Neither place was really suitable to be in now. With a sigh, he opened up Aunt Cass's old laptop there and turned it on. The TV would be too loud to also have on, so he resorted to watching some streaming movies on the laptop while eating his Ramen.

There were a series of cheesy mega monster thrillers that Aunt Cass had in her queue. He smirked, knowing it was mostly his fault he and Tadashi got her hooked on those kind of movies.

 _Wait… maybe Fred could help_ , the thought crossed his mind after looking over the Godzilla titles. After slurping another mouthful of noodles, he clicked on the video chat app and logged in.

"Hey, wassup?" Fred asked. The background of the video showed him in his room and sitting on his crème colored couch.

"Still up?"

"Yep, reading," he nodded, holding up a book he had. "Do you guys have power yet?"

"Yeah… I just didn't turn on any lights. Aunt Cass is asleep," he slurped another mouthful of noodles.

"Oh, gotcha… no screaming banshee contests then."

Hiro just rolled his eyes. "So… I need some help with something."

"Oh, a late night noodle eating demonstration?" the hopeless fan boy rubbed his hands together in eager anticipation.

"No… with one of my classes."

"Oooh, really?" Fred actually looked flattered.

"English Lit," Hiro quickly added before stuffing some egg in his mouth.

"Are you trying to make me wish share-a-vision was really possible?" Fred finally told him.

"Sorry," Hiro apologized, but not without a come back. "But, I got for you an invisible sandwich!" he held up his hands to the web-cam on the monitor, looking like he was holding something big.

"Oh wow…. Thanks!" Fred gladly accepted the sandwich by making the same gesture in return, and then he took a big bite. "Mmm.. yea, that. That's tasty good!"

If Fred's mission was set on making him laugh, he was finally going to have that pleasure. Hiro cracked a smile, but he managed to stifle the rest of his mirth with another mouthful of noodles. Mostly because he didn't want to be too loud.

"What do you need help with, buddy?"

"Getting some assignments done, and a final report written. The final has to be an autobiography."

"Ah… let me guess: it's about some famous dead guy?"

"Exactly."

"Who'd ja pick? Do you need help with proof reading—"

"That's the problem. I haven't even picked  _anyone_  yet."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah," the tired genius rubbed his neck.

"Any ideas at least?"

"Not really," Hiro frowned. He did fancy the idea of considering his dad, being a renown scientific doctor working on the Ebola cure, but he doubted he was famous enough.

"How about Einstein?"

Hiro just gave him a flat stare that implied 'No'. "He's taken anyway."

"Okay… hmm, maybe the guy who invented the first robot?"

"Uh, which era, and which kind of robot?" he countered him.

"The one you like the most?" Fred smiled meekly.

"Well, okay… it's not that part that I need help with though. It's the  _how_. I kind of missed the class when the prof was talking about  _what_  he was looking for when he graded the report."

"No one gave you their notes?"

"I haven't been back in yet to get any."

"Wow," Fred almost looked serious at that point. "Why?"

"I… didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. But it is… the prof emailed me and said it might be better to drop the class, then take it again next year. To save face. I kind of forgot that with the scholarship I got, I have to keep the GPA above a 3.6."

"Ouch… that bad?"

Hiro sighed, looking off screen for a moment. "Yeah. But since they pushed back the due dates, I think I can do this."

"Yey!" Fred fist pumped in his favor.

"I gotta talk to the professor tomorrow." He looked down in thought, then finally decided to tell Fred his other problem. "I'm just not that good with writing papers."

"Really?" Fred looked completely surprised.

"I mean that sometimes.. I don't get all the rules about grammar, or the kind of guidelines to use when writing reports and research papers. Or like, since I know a lot, I have a hard time knowing what should be referenced."

Fred smiled, rubbing his chin in thought. "I'm not the best with that either, but yeah… I can check your work, good buddy."

Hiro returned the gesture with a smile.

"So.. what are your other assignments?"

"There's one where we have to looked at dated literature, and translate it into today's English style. How to write a classic letter, stuff like that," Hiro ate another mouthful of noodles when he finished explaining.

"Fun stuff!" Fred beamed.

"Right…"

* * *

The inky night sky didn't show any of the stars, or even the moon, making the dark shadows in the alley press in around him more. He didn't like the way it felt though. Voices echoed faintly, despite a subtle roar that gradually grew louder, like a raging forest fire. Something flashed, something bright and orange like glowing embers, and then they were falling around him. The brick walls of the alleyway suddenly collapsed, chasing away the darkness with so many flames.

Almost all the darkness.

There was a large solid shape, void of light or form, that walked out of the searing blaze. It pushed down what remained of a brick wall, and moved closer toward him, one slow step at a time. Fear seized his heart when he recognized which robot it resembled. The rotund robot's armor was scorched black, taking on what looked like a blood red color. Flames licked out along the seams of the armor, while the eyes inside the helmet were simply two glowing red embers inside the pitch black darkness within.

Horrified, Hiro turned to run away from the evil form of Baymax. His feet felt like lead, and he couldn't move like something was holding him back. The magnets on his super suit - was this demon trying to use them against him? He stumbled and fell while trying to take off his shoes, knee pads, and gloves as fast as he could. Why did everything feel so difficult?

Then the hell-bot said something to him in monotone Japanese and held up a hand in his direction. The four large fingers on its right hand switched out to become a rapid-fire machine gun.

"Noooo! Yame..  _Yame_!" he screamed at it, crawling backwards before turning to run again.

The same threatening statement in Japanese was repeated, something Hiro just couldn't quite understand. He just knew it was something bad. Panic seized him as he tried to get away, when he heard the rounds go off behind him. The pain seared through his body when the armor-piercing bullets hit him multiple times in the back. He was crying out for someone to help, but his chest seared with burning pain. He fell into darkness for a moment before the hungry, fiery flames consumed his vision. The exploding sound that came from the robot as it blew up was the last thing he heard.

His senses slowly came back to him when the younger Hamada caught his breath. His trembling body was pressed into someone, her arms caressing his back as she whispered soothing reassurances. Hiro brought his arms up to hug Aunt Cass so tight, burying his face into her shoulder to stifle a sob of relief.

More importantly, he was breathing. Breathing freely, easily. The pain was only in his mind. She felt so real, holding him safe from the threat. Hiro did not want to let go just yet, anxious that the haunting visions would come back if he did.

"His dreams have been waking him more often, but not this severely," Baymax was also there at the other end of couch.

Hiro realized they must have heard his shouts for help, and came to see why. The younger Hamada kept his eyes shut, forcing another swallow as he fought back more overwhelming feelings. Normally, this would just be really embarrassing, but right now Hiro could not have felt any more relieved to be in her embrace. His aunt continued to stroke his back with one hand to calm his nerves. Many long minutes passed by until he began to feel more at ease, and his death grip loosened.

"Are you going to be okay, sweetie?" she whispered, trying to look down at him. She ran a hand through his hair, pushing his long bangs aside.

"It was really scary, Aunt Cassie," Hiro raised his head to make brief eye contact. He was trying so hard to control his crazy swirl of emotions.

"Do you want to talk about it?" his aunt asked gently.

He just shook his head no. "Just want them to stop…" he whimpered, leaning back into her arms one more time.

"Oh, I wish I could help," she murmured, her face bent close to his head to console him. "Can you go back to sleep?"

Hiro didn't say anything, or make any effort to move from the embrace. He could not explain why he felt so clingy, but he did know sleep really was the last thing he wanted right now.

"It's okay," she held him some more, closing her eyes.

"I can stay with Hiro, if you wish for more sleep, Aunt Cass," the healthcare robot offered, apparently noticing her exhausted expression.

Getting the hint, he unwillingly moved away from Aunt Cass and curled into the couch cushions. Aunt Cass picked up the blankets that fell to the floor and wrapped them around him.

"It'll be okay.. I'll be in my room if you need anything else, okay sweetie?" she explained. A hint of guilt was still evident in her tone. She leaned in to hug him one more time for more reassurance.

Before leaving, Aunt Cass paused to pat Baymax on the arm, to show her appreciation for the robot's considerations.

Baymax sat at the end of the couch. Feeling the robot's gaze, Hiro glanced over to him, but not without a strange sense of apprehension. The boy stayed where he was and pulled his knees up close to his chest while tugging the blankets close.

"Do not be afraid, Hiro," his guardian placed a hand on his shoulder. "I will keep you safe."

Hiro looked back over to him again. He forcibly reminded himself that this Baymax could not ever, would never, want to harm him. He wouldn't. Hiro couldn't even get him to step on a spider. It had to have been the other one again. The one he left behind.

"The dream, this time… it wasn't about Tadashi. It was …  _me_ ," that was all he managed to say. From what he had told Baymax before about his dreams, Hiro hoped his companion understood. The younger Hamada sighed in surrender and repositioned himself so he could lay his head on Baymax's short, pillow-like leg. He tugged the blankets up around his shoulders before Baymax helped him with those. Failing at trying to clear his mind, he sighed again. Baymax seemed to notice, by rubbing his hand on Hiro's shoulder to help ease his anxiety. Since the healthcare companion hadn't mastered the fine art of humming in a soothing manner yet, he tuned into a station that played soft instrumental soundtrack music. Previous times, Tadashi's videos were often requested. This time, however, all Hiro felt was guilt again for leaving behind the first Baymax. Many long minutes turned into an hour before sleep finally came.

* * *

Freshened from the quick shower, Aunt Cass came out to the kitchen to grab something to eat. Her first thoughts were for her dear, sweet nephew, however. It did give her a quite the scare last night, hearing Hiro yelling for help in Japanese and English. She feared someone had broken in and was attacking him. Lord knows what kind of enemies he might be making from his superhero gig. They say they try to be careful keeping their identities on the down low, but she can't help but worry.

Fortunately, it was a dream, just a really bad one. He really hadn't been like that since the fire at the expo. The brunette bit her lip, wondering if the stress from the earthquake brought this on. His apparent anxiety about her leaving him last night also bothered her, since he had become more reclusive since Tadashi's absence. That was like one extreme to the other. The fact Hiro has not really stopped having nightmares, from what Baymax told her, was news to her. Could this also be why he seemed to be evading sleep at night?

She walked over to check on Hiro, and was relieved to see he was sound asleep on Baymax's lap. Her nephew was clutching the robot's billowy hand under his arm, along with the blankets. She smiled upon noticing Mochi curled up on Baymax's other leg, against Hiro's messy head of hair. They looked so peaceful this way.

Baymax watched her in silence, apparently not saying anything as to not disturb his 'patient'. Aunt Cass paused, then stepped forward to lean close to his head. She had been around him enough to know his battery life was limited also. "Are you— your battery levels holding up okay?"

"Yes," came the short answer, then he held the index finger of his free hand to his face, making a shushing gesture.

Aunt Cass smiled knowingly, and patted Baymax on the shoulder. She turned back towards to the kitchen counter to grab some things. "Going downstairs. Meeting with some repair men," she mouthed to him, barely audible. Hopefully the robot understood that much.

* * *

It felt like it was much earlier than it should have been that morning by the time Hiro woke up. The gray, rainy, skies made the second floor dark, and he didn't hear the usual noises from the café coming up through the floor. Instead, he realized what he thought was a coffee grinder, was actually a saw blade running through something again, maybe wood. After he sat up, he remembered the café was not open yet due to more repairs being needed. The clock said it was past ten o'clock now, much to his chagrin.

"Are you feeling better?" Baymax asked him. Hiro could tell the robot was already scanning his body from way he was looking at him.

"As long as my brain's not trying to kill me," he muttered, despite how the expression would confuse Baymax. "Don't answer that... I'm satisfied with my care."

Baymax nodded without protest. The robot located his red case by the top of the staircase, then moved it over to an outlet to plug in the base before deflating into it.

After getting himself ready, Hiro got together what he needed for school and left. He left Baymax behind to recharge, and was quick in telling Aunt Cass goodbye. At this point, he somehow felt safer leaving Baymax at home.

Hiro didn't go to any classes that morning, since not many were open anyway. He went into the lab, and cut through the bigger one to get to his. The two girls were the only ones in their corner of the lab that morning. Honey was talking casually with GoGo, and did not notice him pass through, but the labs were more quiet as usual since many students left early for the holiday break.

His primary focus was to make more headway on his search and rescue robot for that day. Most of the programming looked good, when he had it in Baymax. Now he had to adapt it to Geronimo's structural design. The design had to be clearly different, since it was heavier in order to have the strength and power needed to get through different obstacles. His secondary task was to make some headway with his stupid autobiography for English Literature. He rather contend Geronimo's most stubborn bugs than deal with that, in all honesty.

* * *

That kid was clearly in his anti-social mode again, because Hiro did not stop to say 'hi' or anything when GoGo saw him walk through to his lab earlier. The café also happened to be open for lunch, and she stuck to their usual schedule to take a break for lunch there. However, this time she was left with eating her lunch alone. The sophomore figured it was because they did not have Japanese class that afternoon, that Hiro did not come. He wasn't responding to her texts either though. That part did make her worry a little. In the past he would at least let her know he was just very busy.

GoGo did know that he was worried about his project, from previous discussions. And yet, this made her reflect back on a particular instance Tadashi had with Baymax. One night she remembered getting a few slightly frantic texts from Honey Lemon, when Tadashi wasn't answering her texts or phone calls. After going up to his lab, Honey found him asleep on the floor. Somehow, the robot knocked him out earlier, and the older Hamada had the black eye to prove it.

With that in mind, GoGo went up to the Hamada lab to also check on the younger. The door was closed, glass tinted, but she did hear someone instead.

"Hey, you okay in there, Hiro?" she knocked on the door.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

And that was that. He didn't say anything more, or even open the door. GoGo pressed her lips together, debating on whether to get pushy or just let him be. She sighed, making up her mind to give him until the labs closed for the day before she took further action.

The remainder of the afternoon seemed to pass by quickly, and even though Honey Lemon and practically every other student in the lab, had left to go home, GoGo stayed. The hopeless freshman was still upstairs, last she checked fifteen minutes ago. It was then she got a call from Fred, asking if Hiro was there. Aunt Cass had called the fanboy earlier to see if he was with him, since Hiro was not responding to her texts as well.

"He's not been talking to me either, but I'll see if I can flush him out this time," GoGo spoke into the phone as she walked back towards the stairs to get to Hiro's lab. "I'll text her back. Thanks."

"Hey genius! It's go time!" she yelled a little more loudly after knocking. "Your aunt is getting super worried."

"I'm going home  _later_. Don't worry!"

She crossed her arms this time, because that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. Time to get pushy.

"Open the door, genius," GoGo's voice became unrelenting. "Now!"

What seemed like another minute passed, but nothing happened. He didn't even say anything in response this time. This was really beginning to annoy her, to the point she wondered if she could find and convince a security guard to open the door.

"Are you trying to make me mad? I'm not leaving until you open this door!" she tried one more time before looking for said security guard. "Please!"

After a few moments more, the door opened a crack. GoGo waited a beat longer while realizing that was it. She pushed it open a little more to slide inside, and then closed it behind her.

"What are..." the mechanical engineer began, but what she saw cut herself off. Hiro was back in his swivel chair, looking intently at his wide, green holographic monitor. His primary center of focus was a Word document, and surrounding it was various other windows from the internet, or other Word documents. He was clearly researching and writing about something. At least the genius had been eating something during the day, when she spotted some snack wrappers and a few cans of energy drinks sitting around the desk and work table. She also noticed a couple CD cases for Guns N Roses sitting on the desk next to him, and rolled her eyes. Of course this nerd doesn't listen to his brother's old music.

Hiro still didn't look up, but GoGo could tell he was ignoring her on purpose so he could stay on task. She stopped next to a half-built robotic frame standing to the other side of the room. The robot had a dark silver, human-like face, a dense torso, and slightly disproportioned legs with track wheels on the knees. The arms were not there, but she wondered if the odds and ends sitting on the work bench next to it came together to make them. Was this Mega-Z, Hiro's other battle bot? There were a few attributes about this robot that reminded her of the design details she saw from the big bot battle the other night. But now, this one had more of the features the search and rescue robots that teams from MIT and Carnegie Hall had created for the DARPA challenges. If he had used this for bot-fighting, she felt some relief he was trying to change its function and design.

"Argh! This is insane! I can't do this! I can't!" the young genius finally blurted out with great exasperation, holding his hands out in the air. "I am  _never_  going to get all this done in time!"

The sudden outburst from the nerd actually made GoGo's heart jump a beat, and she turned away from the robot to watch him lament.

"I  _hate_  writing... stupid, useless brain," he had pretty much face planted on the desk, nearly missing the keyboard.

She raised an eyebrow in thought about what could be causing this much anguish, before saying something. Certainly it wasn't for his robotic project, because that rarely requires so much report writing research. "What. Are you. Doing?"

"An autobiography for English Lit," Hiro raised his head, then swiveled around in his chair to face her. He clearly looked defeated and very exhausted now. "It's taking me a  _lot_  longer than planned!"

"English Lit?"

"Yeah."

"Can't you work on that at home?" she shifted her stance, a little more surprised. "You should have the  _next_   _two weeks_  to get that in."

"I know," Hiro rested his elbows on his knees, shaking his head. "But.. I missed out on a lot of assignments from that class. And.. still need to clean up the garage to even get to those computers – if they still work – cuz the monitors in my room aren't working right.. which leaves me with Aunt Cass's old laptop right now."

"Better than nothing," she shrugged.

"But.. its not."

"Who are you writing about?"

"John McCarthy, the first guy to invent artificial intelligence."

GoGo smiled. "Not the first person to invent robots?" she teased him.

"Of course not…. too predictable!" Hiro said with a huff before turning back around to look at his work.

 _Now he's starting to worry about that, t_ he mechanical engineer thought to herself. It didn't seem like he wanted to leave yet though. She turned to look at his robotic project again.

"Is this Mega-Z?" she finally asked him, running her fingers along the edge of the plating on its chest. Yep, she was going to bombard him with questions until Hiro gave up altogether on trying to get anything done here. If not, finally get him to come out with the truth about all of this.

"Mega-Z? N-no," Hiro sputtered in response to look at her, running a hand through his hair nervously. "That.. that's Geronimo. He's the search and rescue robot I told you about. His primary function is to go into buildings that are burning, or damaged from earthquakes…. in search of people."

GoGo looked up from the assembly of parts, nodding. Her thoughts had seized upon his words about burning buildings, repeating them in her mind. That was when it occurred to her as to why a search and rescue design was chosen. This project was in memory of his brother. Realizing that caused more anger to rise up all over again, because this frame also had been used for bot fighting. How could he honor a project for Tadashi after defacing its value like that? The quick and fast engineer recognized too much here. GoGo crossed her arms and glared at him harshly now. "But it  _used_  to be Mega-Z."

"It... I.. yes… his alias  _was_  Mega-Z," Hiro broke down and confessed, melting under her threatening look.

"Didn't you  _realize_  taking him to bot fights put your tech out there for them to  _steal_?" she yelled at him, hands spread wide.

"They did not  _steal_  it, they just copied my ideas to make their own version. Callaghan did the same thing to make more of my microbots!" the young genius refuted.

"Hiro… that's still  _stealing_ ," GoGo scolded him. "Now you're going to have a super hard time proving that the tech was your idea  _first_ , so you could patent it!"

"I know!" Hiro gripped his head, growling in disgust as he walked in a circle. The reality clearly hit him now, she decided, when he started swearing out loud.

"Your big secret is not so  _secret_  anymore, is it?" she chided him some more, selfishly telling herself that he deserved this. He just doesn't seem to get it otherwise.

"I was going to change Geronimo's physical design so it wasn't going to be the same!" Hiro faced her, his anger visibly provoked. "Like switching to nanotechnology, for morphing his arms into whatever tool to manipulate the obstacles in his way."

"Do you have the resources and time to  _do_  that?" GoGo held her intense eye contact with his shifty ones.

Hiro just gritted his teeth, not giving her an answer, and turned away to escape her scrutiny. He clearly did not.

"What did we tell you about scope creep, genius?" she could tell he was starting to make up more excuses again just to throw her off.

"I.. I didn't realize before  _what_ Yama's gang was capable of!" Hiro protested.

"Don't be a bonehea—" As soon as she said that, she was silently cursing herself for sounding like Tadashi.

Hironically glared at her, catching her slip of tongue, but then shook his head. "Look, I.. I think it's a whole lot worse. If they knew about the nuerotransmitter, then they might have looked into the situation behind Callaghan's reign as Yokai. And the portals… are the Fujita also able to figure out how to get to the first Baymax?" Hiro finally tried to explain more of this to her.

"You're asking me?"

"I'm serious, I really am. If they get a hold of that Baymax, and reprogram him, it's not going to be good.. for any of us…" Hiro looked at her, his true sincerity laced with fear from his last dream now coming through.

"Why…?"she looked more concerned. The fact he was admitting that he had a real problem was a start. But it bothered her why he worried about that Baymax. What about the fully functioning one he had with him? GoGo rehearsed his question in silence for a better answer for him. "Because the police have whatever that was left of those portals in their custody."

"Not unless they can build their own... 'cuz last night, I … my dreams are getting worse."

"How bad?"

"Baymax.. or something like him, he was scorched black and smoldering with embers on the inside. The hell-bot, he came out of a burning building to chase after me. And shot at me.. until I was dead," Hiro finished with a whisper. "It felt so real."

GoGo nodded, a twinge of sympathy going through her after hearing his last words. His moods really had been swinging so much more lately. Was this a subliminal guilt trip, wherein the portal Baymax represented Tadashi, both of which he could not save from danger? Then another piece clicked into place.

Tomorrow was Thanksgiving.

The younger Hamada was guarding all conversation about it with them. The most she knew was from what Aunt Cass mentioned, in that they weren't going anywhere, or inviting anyone. She wanted to use that time to fix up the Lucky Cat. Honey Lemon had invited the two to come to her family's house, just so the could take it easy for awhile. The tall chemist couldn't imagine them just being alone. But Hiro must be dreading it.

"I don't get it though... Why do people always want to take advantage of me,  _use_  me?" The anger returned to his voice again, his fists clenched.

"Hey…"

"Even my brother.. he.. he just wanted to help. He  _never_  did anything wrong.  _Why_ …? He didn't deserve to get caught up in it!" Hiro complained, not looking at her at all as he paced. When he stopped, it was long enough to yell at the large, round window. "It's not  _fair_.. why?"

"Hiro..." GoGo felt that he was at his breaking point again. Rather than fight it, this time she stepped over to wrap her arms around him. He had been holding it in too long, she could feel it, his pain. The words resonated as a reminder for her as well. "It's hard to understand... so hard. But you don't have to be strong forever. It hurts so much, I know.. but .. you  _are_  important, loved.. and you are  _not_  a bad person."

Hiro held her tightly, his fingertips curling into her jacket. All she heard was his breathing change, but his shaking body was the real indication that the boy had started crying. When his knees began to give out, GoGo held onto him as they lowered down to the floor to sit together. His face was pressed against her shoulder while he continued to hold her close.

A few more minutes passed until Hiro seemed to have exhausted his lament. GoGo rested her cheek on his head, keeping him in her embrace. It was then she finally let the tears that had been welling up in her eyes roll down her cheeks. There had been so much she had been holding back as well.

* * *

Hiro still hitched his breath as he tried to regain more control over his emotions. He felt awkward for just loosing it in her arms, but her strong and soothing embrace helped him forget about that. He had no desire to let go of her right away either.

"Everything's harder without him," Hiro whispered, his cheek still against her wet leather jacket. He squeezed his eyes tight for a second, forcing out the rest of the salty tears. Then more words slipped out before he could stop himself. "I learned my lesson… why can't he come back?"

GoGo pulled away a little, shaking her head slowly. "It was never your fault, Hiro," she looked at him when he raised his head to look into her softened, compassionate eyes. Eyes that also glistened more than usual from the tears flowing out of them. He never seen her cry before.

"I gave him such a hard time, before…" he told her, looking away.

"Hey… Tadashi was  _proud_  of you, so proud," she whispered to him, to pick up his spirits. "He would brag about you so much, that we started placing bets on if you were really as smart as he claimed."

"Was I?" Hiro decided to ask.

"I'm still not sure," she teased, sniffling at the same time.

"Shut up…" he whispered. But he closed his eyes and leaned back into her. "T'da-nii.. he never gave up.. on- on me," he said, only to get choked up again. GoGo rubbed his back, the other hand cradling his head again.

"I'm not gonna give up on you either," she said softly. He looked back up to her, noticing her lips quivering before she pressed them together. She then cradled his face with her hands, gently wiping away his tears with her thumbs. The warmth and softness he felt from her hands had felt so comforting. It made his heart beat stronger.

Hiro reached up, gingerly, to trail the lines of wetness from the tears on her cheek with his fingertips, hesitating before lightly brushing across her lower lip. He had that crazy thought to try to kiss her.. somehow. Yet, her hand came up to his, palm facing palm, to bring his hand down. He hesitated after that, feeling his heart pound harder with expectation. GoGo instead whispered something in Korean, and brushed aside his bangs to kiss him on the forehead. Just on the forehead, but was  _something._

He swallowed, forcing down his crazy emotions before surrendering back into her arms. Feeling her steady heartbeat and the warmth of her body against his, that helped him calm down and feel strong again. At the same time, however, his new realization scared him. Because deep down, he struggled so much with his new feelings, so many shadows stubbornly battling against the invading power of light and hope. Why did being in love with her have to be so illegal?

Hiro drew in a deep breath, also making an undesirable snuffling sound from sucking back so much snot. The awkward position they were in had caused one of his legs fall asleep, painfully, and he reluctantly let go of her to shift his position.

"Leg's asleep..." he muttered as he unfolded them to shake the one affected.

GoGo also straightened up a bit and crossed her legs next to Hiro, after he stretched his left leg more. She put her arm across his shoulders, keeping him close. "But.. I'm not replacing your brother, even though it feels like it sometimes. Tadashi was one of a kind…" GoGo dropped her hand, then sighed. Hiro decided maybe that was her apology for acting like him lately, until she started talking again.

"I just know, from my own experience, why he got so worried…. Because I grew up on the streets, without a family.. didn't know my dad, and my mom left me. I was.. never loved. Instead of playing with dolls, I had to sell drugs... or jack cars. It was what I had to do to survive, or the drug dealer who took me off the streets would not give me a place to stay, or food to eat."

She shook her head, glancing downward. "But if I was caught by the police… too bad. It would be my fault. God, I hated that asshole so much… I finally got back at him when they caught me, big time. I ratted him out… 'cause I finally decided.. being in jail would be better than putting up with his assery. And that… That might have been the biggest life changer, cause when the cops realized I didn't have parents or a home… they put me in a special reform program in juvvie."

"How old were you.. when you got caught?" Hiro looked to her. All these details were completely new to him, which left him wondering how it all fit together with what he did know.

"Thirteen."

Hiro just made a face, realizing the point of her conversation. Or also why she would get edgy when it came to anything that dealt with the authorities.

"Yeah, that's why I get so upset when you get mixed up with criminals. It's  _not_  the life you want to live, really."

He nodded, looking down at his hands, thinking things through. Six years had gone by since she changed her life. "So… when did you start street racing?"

GoGo looked at him, almost put-off by that question. "After I was adopted. Yeah… I thought I could get away with it."

"See," Hiro looked back to her, a smirk playing across his lips. "It's hard to stay away."

She shoved him over in protest. "I'm trying to be real with you, nerd."

Hiro sat back up, but didn't say anything in return. He kind of figured she had a tough life, but knowing the whole truth did change a lot of things he assumed about her. Of course, it wasn't as nearly crazy as finding out that Fred was a billionaire's son, but he figured this bunch of nerds had all kinds of secrets once he knew them long enough. The realization that she was opening up to him about her life that she never talked about was a revelation on his behalf. He also wondered how hard it was for GoGo to adjust to a normal life afterwards, but decided against asking her about that now.

GoGo became aware of her phone vibrating on the workbench. She suddenly remembered she told Fred she was going to text Aunt Cass, but she hadn't yet. "It's Aunt Cass," GoGo sighed, looking at her phone. She didn't answer it, after she saw his frown. As expected, a text followed soon after.

"Thank you.. just, for everything," Hiro breathed, looking down at the floor.

"Anytime," she said, knowing what he meant and patted his back. "It was very cathartic."

"It helped…" he agreed.

GoGo dropped her arm just so she could text her response to his aunt. Then she looked to Hiro with her reserved poker face. "I'm starved. Let's go and see if that noodle stand on the way home is open."

"Thanks… but, I still need to finish—" he stood up.

"No," GoGo cut him off, also getting back to her feet. "Because I told your Aunt I'm taking you home."

Hiro looked at her rather disapprovingly. He really did have so much to do, and he wouldn't be able to get back into the labs for two whole days. "I can't… I have to finish up my report, since the labs won't be—"

"Hiro, seriously… the labs  _are_  closed now. Get your stuff together and let's go!"

He just gripped his head with both hands, anxiety building again as he tried to think out a fall-back plan in response to her demands.

"Hey, I can help you with Geronimo when I get back on Monday,"

"That's not it," Hiro sighed. There was also his other classes, and maybe talking to someone again about his grant to fund Baymax.

"What happened to your own tablet?"

"A table in the café smashed its keyboard," he sat back down at his desk, looking at what he had done so far. Then it finally occurred to him what she said. "Wait… You're leaving this weekend? Where?"

"You didn't hear the conversation from the other night?" GoGo stood behind him. He just shook his head 'no' without looking at her.

"My foster parents wanted me to go home for Thanksgiving. They have some of their family from Korea also visiting. So they made it a big deal that I go to LA to meet them."

"Oh… have a good trip," he simply told her. Why did it suddenly bother him now that she was not going to be here? It was just four days. Four long days. What if Yama's gang got restless again?

Then he found himself facing her after she spun his chair around. "Hey, I'm not leaving until tomorrow morning, genius.. so get your stuff together, and we'll all have a study session at  _your_  house, tonight. Okay?"

"O-okay," Hiro swallowed. Like this, she made it hard to say no now. "By 'we', you mean the others too?"

"Whoever's available," she shrugged.

He sighed, saving his work and then closing out the extra windows on his monitor before shutting everything down.

"You can borrow my laptop too, if that'll help. It's got a foldout screen option," GoGo also mentioned.

"Okay… you're not going to need it?" Hiro asked while getting the rest of what he needed together.

"I'll be okay over the weekend," she pulled out her phone to group text the others now. Honey might be busy with her family, but Fred and Wasabi didn't indicate any other plans for tonight.

"Just don't tell them I lost it—"

"Shit," she gasped, dropping her hands and looking at him in shock. "I just sent it."

Hiro covered his face with both hands in dismay, leaning back in his chair.

"Chill out," she bumped into him. "I was just  _teasing_."

At that, he stared at her, before shaking his head and standing up.

"Hiro... if you need to talk, about  _anything_ ," GoGo made eye contact with the young genius again, to show her genuine concern. " _Talk_. It's okay, really.

* * *

 _And when your fears subside_  
And shadows still remain  
I know that you can love me  
When there's no one left to blame  
So never mind the darkness  
We still can find a way  
'Cause nothin' lasts forever  
Even cold November rain

" _November Rain" by GNR_

* * *

The misty, dense fog only added to the cold, overcast San Fransokyo morning, which the mood Hiro woke up with. It finally was Thanksgiving, a time that he used to be excited about. They would take turns in making the long road trip to Washington state to spend the weekend visiting with Aunt Cass's cousins, or invite them to come stay at the Lucky Cat. Either way, the anticipation of these get-togethers always made the start of the holiday season worth while.

This time, it wasn't going to happen. The stupid earthquake changed everything, and not having Tadashi around anymore diminished his desire to abandon this mess to drive up north. Aunt Cass reassured him she will do her best to make the best out if it, but he doubted that would make a difference.

That day was also the first time since late that summer that they finally agreed to go to the cemetery. Aunt Cass parked her truck in the small lot at the bottom of the garden that surrounded the cemetery and temple. More traditional Japanese who had followed Buddhist practices, would come to pay their respects during the autumnal equinox in September. Much of the grave sites were cleared and refreshed also. But clearly, he was not ready yet at that time.

Aunt Cass knew enough to teach them about Japanese traditions in regards to paying respects to their ancestors, but they never really followed any one belief. She just had a few pictures of his and Tadashi's parents on a shelf in honor of them. They also did not have an actual grave site here. Aunt Cass said it was in Japan, in their father's hometown, and so they would just go to the temple here to pay their respects.

This time, it felt completely different. His brother's gravestone was here.

Hiro really did not want to come, but he kept reminding himself of his promise he made last night that he would. He gripped the small steel bowl of still warm cooked rice, covered with a lid. Tucked carefully under his arm was the letter he wrote, and a set of disposable bamboo chopsticks. Both of these were the offering he was going to give, as part of Japanese custom.

It still made little sense though, despite the ancient customs and beliefs. The funeral service was the worse part. Try as they may to fool him, there really was nothing there. No body or ashes. An empty grave, holding an empty box. He didn't like knowing, thinking about what it meant. Saying that his brother was 'gone' sounded much better than suggesting that he became 'pink mist'.

The gravestone was simple. He told Aunt Cass to keep everything simple. No visitation at the funeral home, or a fancy service with flowers and catering. She reassured him it was not a problem to have the reception at their place after the graveside service, for their family and friends at least. He still thought it was insane how the funeral home wanted to make an extra profit from everything. This was just something none of them had been prepared for.

Hiro heavily knelt in front of the plain slab of granite flush with the lawn, forcing himself to become detached and numb from his actions. To be like a robot as he took the lid off the rice, and place it underneath the steel bowl. Then he set them carefully on the corner of gray stone. Hiro pulled out the chopsticks from the paper sleeve and broke them apart, only to pause when he looked at them. His carefully guarded emotions where suddenly exposed, when he remembered an analogy Tadashi told him once. One chopstick alone is useless, and can be easily broken. Two chopsticks, however, can accomplish many things. Many chopsticks gathered together, are impossible to break.

 _Dammit, why?_ The younger Hamada gritted his teeth, tears welling up in his eyes when he stuck both chopsticks upright in the middle of the bowl of rice. Loneliness tried to get the better of him again, reminding him of his loss.

After taking in another deep breath to regain his composure, he finally pulled out the letter to set next to the rice, and then paused briefly to trace one of the long carved strokes of Tadashi's name in Japanese characters. " _Sumimasen, nii-san,"_ he barely whispered the words of his heartfelt gratitude.

Hiro willed himself to stand up, but then had found himself in his aunt's arms. He had grow a little taller, was half a year older, but all this still felt like it happened yesterday. Just watching him must have really touched Aunt Cass. Her face was also wet with tears. He remembered his mom was her sister too, and that was the one thing they had in common. They both had lost their other chopstick, but they never were really alone.

"It'll be okay, Aunt Cass," he stepped back to look at her in consolation. "We can do this.. together."

"Oh sweetie," she hugged him again. And with the help of his brother's friends, his friends, they would become an indomitable force

* * *

November 23, 2025

Hiro Hamada

Classical Letters

ENG102

Dear Tadashi,

How have you been? I'm doing okay, I guess. The weather is total crap lately. Then on top of that, San Fransokyo got hit with a 6.5 earthquake last week, which did some major damage along the bay. Aunt Cass is okay too, fortunately. The Lucky Cat is a big mess though. We have been working on it every day to get it fixed up for business again. This is also right before finals, so they had to push back all the due dates at college too.

Everything at SFIT is different. Amazing. Challenging. Really, I can't tell you "thank you" enough for giving me that proverbial kick in the buttocks to get me to come here. It was because of your faith in me, that I kept hoping and believing I would make it in. Before, I never fully realized just how attentive and selfless of a person you were, not until that night at the expo. You did not have to go into that fire, but you did. That's what makes so many things different now.

If I had not told you how awesome Baymax was before, I am making sure I do now. Your healthcare robot is absolutely 'unbelievable'! He is a lot like you sometimes, just the way he's always there for me. Baymax has helped me understand a lot of stuff. He has helped all of us, really. I'm going to do what I can to make your plans for him come true, in more ways than one. I did have to make some more improvements on his programming and functions. Don't worry though, they were all good modifications to help Baymax become a better healthcare provider. Then next year, when I get more funding, I plan to present his prototype to SF's children's hospital. I read in your journals this was what you had wanted for him. All of your friends are helping me with making your wish come true.

I'll be honest though, Tadashi, I still miss you. You were my only brother, my partner in crime. Just knowing now that you are not there in person anymore is the hardest thing I have to get used to. Sometimes I think you'll come back, just because that's what you do. There's something else. I started to tell you that night, but I didn't get the chance. I want to apologize for lying to you, for all the times I snuck out to bot fight, and well, made you lose more sleep at night.

If it wasn't for your friends, and Baymax, watching out for me… I probably would be back out on the streets, bot fighting again. Thank you for leaving that lasting impact, that you will always be with me, in this way.

Take care of yourself, Nii-san, until I see you again.

Your Little Brother,

Hiro

* * *

The rest of the day went by much quicker, in a fortunate way. Aunt Cass had made a couple things to bring when she and Hiro went to Honey Lemon's house. Wasabi was invited too, since his family lived in New York, and they were fine with him waiting until Christmas to visit. Then Fred mentioned his parents were going to wait until Friday to celebrate, and so Honey Lemon invited him too just so he would stop giving her the puppy dog eyes.

Ironically he and Hiro ended up having to sit at one of the kid's tables, which hardly seemed to phase Fred. He played right along with their conversations about trading card games and cartoon shows. Things didn't get interesting until the two found themselves involved in a few heated rounds of virtual reality Pokémon matches. Hiro actually had to stress over winning strategies with the not so good cards he had if he wanted to save face.

Of course, Fred later invited Wasabi, Honey, and Hiro to come to his family's dinner on Friday, but they declined. It was most likely they did not want to feel obliged, after already being part of one really big feast. Hiro told Fred later he still might visit before the dinner, only to discuss Yama's gang. With that being said, Wasabi told them if they actually plan on doing anything about that, let him know.

With the video surveillance, and Hiro and Baymax flying back out to Akuma Island earlier to be sure, Callaghan did remove all the parts of the portals to make that bigger one over Krei tech. What had remained had been confiscated by the authorities. Which left Hiro to wonder about two more things. Would Yama have connections with someone on the inside, and did the Fujitas have the skills to build their own portals? It could be possible if they had their own techie gurus.

Wasabi simply reminded Hiro of the most obvious detail again. To keep Baymax grounded and at home safe. Why bother with the trouble of getting the first one, when they could steal Hiro's with a lot less effort. This didn't really help Hiro feel any more at ease. It left him wondering about any other ways that they could be tracking or watching him.

As a result, Hiro spent the rest of the weekend at home, which was fine for Aunt Cass. That just meant more hands to help her with cleaning and repairs. Wasabi offered to come over and help also. The others made one half true comment about how he enjoyed cleaning and organizing things, and that pretty much landed him the task to help Hiro straighten up the garage.

While the thought of making sense out of chaos and bringing order to the universe had brought an indescribable sense of self-gratification, Wasabi wasn't so sure if that would be achieved from helping Hiro with his garage. It was already something short of a mess before the earthquake. The whole situation was kind of awkward anyway, because it was just going to be him and the younger Hamada. Cleaning up isn't really Fred's kind of thing, and if he did come by, it would just to be a distraction. At least, according to Wasabi.

He and Hiro also were not big talkers to begin with, especially when they have a task to focus on. It was the matter of just talking casually that seemed a little more strained with the young prodigy now. Obviously, Hiro was simply under a lot of various stresses. More and more, he began wondering if Hiro also realized that he inadvertently stole Gogo from him. It was kind of apparent, ever since the Yokai incident, that she taken a liking to Hiro. Gogo pretty much kept to herself before, apart from her occasional flirtatious attempts between himself and Tadashi. But after spying the speed queen literally enjoying her lunch breaks with the younger Hamada, he knew his relationship with her was done. It was pointless to let that be an issue, but sometimes, when he found himself in situations like this, he would think about it.

Rather that forever dance around the issue, he decided to be the first to start a random topic with Hiro to loosen up the tension. They have seen how chatty the genius can be if the right topic was addressed.

"Have you seen Mt. Fuji?" Wasabi wondered, hopefully it was a fair question. The hand painted mural he had seen in the inside of the garage door prompted this opener.

"Um… yeah, few years ago," Hiro shrugged, pretty much engaged with sorting out the nuts from some bolts. The rest of his response, if he had more, was interrupted with a couple sneezes. A subtle reminder that Hiro mentioned earlier that he felt like he was coming down with something.

He nodded, quietly thankful that he was on the other side of the room working with Baymax in setting some shelving upright. "Did you live in Japan at any time?"

"Just when I was little… when my parents used to travel a lot." his answer sounded distant again.

"Aw, that's okay, little man," Wasabi smiled in an effort to keep the conversation light. However, he also realized the fact that both he and Gogo came from military families had been their common ground. "Back when my dad was active in the Army, we used to be stationed in Okinawa for about 6 years."

"You did?" the young genius looked up at him as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Wasabi hoped he didn't show his disgust too much upon seeing Hiro's action. "Yeah, when I was a teenager,"

"That's where you learned swords?"

"Yep," Wasabi nodded, "We lived in a lot of places, but that was my favorite one."

"Is that why you're at SFIT?"

The others had remarked a couple times why he hadn't gone to any of the prestigious east coast universities, since his family was currently from New York city's suburbs. "You could say that. I also felt I had ideas that could also make this university shine."

"By being the first to create a lightsaber," Hiro smiled a little. Yes, of all the useful things a physicist of his caliber could present, this was the one thing they had to keep reminding him of. It was a pretty cool feat, regardless.

Then the boy exploded with a series of sneezes again.

"It has been determined that a human sneeze can go 40 miles per hour, sending thousands of germs as far as 20 feet away," Baymax felt the need to educate them with his knowledge.

"And this is why I am asking you to get some tissues for him, and can of Lysol spray for me," Wasabi leaned in to the billowy robot.

"Sorry," Hiro apologized, meekly.

"Gesundheit," Baymax told him on his way out to retrieve the requested items.

Wasabi had thought about asking him where his grandparents lived in Japan, but the mood had kind of changed, and he gave up. Yep, definitely better to just focus on his work, and avoid the onslaught of germs.

* * *

Monday turned out to become so very long and tedious for Hiro. It was a full morning of classes, followed by a long afternoon in the labs. Gogo also ended up missing her classes, as she finally got back to the Greyhound bus station after they were all over that evening. The violent assortment of emojis she used in her texts pretty much summed up her feelings about her day. The most Hiro could do to keep her calm was to respond with equally absurd emojis. Somewhere in there he also managed to reassure her that at least she could make up for the exams she missed on Tuesday or Wednesday. A lot of the classes split up their oral presentations over the next few days as well. The biggest thing that upset Gogo, however, was that she could not be available to help him that evening with his project. She had been called in to work to make a crap load of deliveries since the other person called in sick.

Hiro admitted that she shouldn't worry about coming over after she finished her deliveries, because he felt pretty sick himself. His cold had gotten worse as the day progressed, and if it wasn't finals week, he would have just stayed home. The young prodigy really didn't think there was much he could effectively accomplish on anything at this point, even after the additional medicine Baymax gave him.

Aunt Cass had took it upon herself to drop him off at the campus that morning, since he had both robots with him. However, she had other commitments that evening, and so Hiro was on his own in getting back. He was fine with leaving his robots in the lab just for the night just to make getting back home easier. After blowing his nose for the umpteenth time, otherwise resorting to plugging up his nostrils to stop the constant drip of his runny nose, Hiro changed his mind about leaving Baymax there.

In his cold medicine-induced delirium, the young genius concluded that if he could just fly home on him, it would be the easiest way possible. Baymax had refused, just because Hiro was feverish and it was wet and cold outside. He tried to protest that it would be faster at least, but Baymax would not suit up no matter what he did or said.

Hiro eventually surrendered and took the subway home. It was a line he was not too familiar with, since many of the lines had not been cleared yet due to extensive damage on some of the overpasses. He still was wary about Baymax being stolen, and set the case right next to him on the seat. Other times he would push the case under his seat, if not just let Baymax travel as a robot, but he feared that would not be safe this time. It was hard to miss an inflatable robot, really, but people hardly seemed to notice when he had what looked like a carry-on suitcase. This time, the fatigued freshman also found the case comfortable enough to sleep on, after folding his arms on top of it to rest his aching head.

* * *

The opportunity really was not expected, which was all the more reason why the lanky man who had stepped on the subway car heading downtown became excited. Just to be sure, he snapped a quick picture with his phone of the bushy haired boy asleep on a red box, and sent it to one of the higher ups in his gang. Only a couple short minutes passed before his assumptions were confirmed.

This was the kid they had lost track of last week after the earthquake.

His instruction was simply to follow him, and find out why he was headed downtown. Well, once the boy woke up. The punk also concluded that Hiro was by himself, as the only other person sitting next to him on the long bench seat was an elderly African American lady. Many more stops came and went, as did the crowds of people, making it a test on the restless man's patience to wait for the kid to wake up and make a move.

* * *

Something startled him. Maybe a person bumping into him, or the lurching of the subway car starting up again from its last stop. His awareness kicked up a notch as he started to wonder how long he had been asleep. It was darker outside now, and otherwise hard to see the scenery blurring by. He wiped his nose on his sweatshirt sleeve next, becoming painfully aware of that again.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Hiro politely asked the grandmotherly woman next to him. "What was the last stop?"

Her answer confirmed his suspicions. He missed his stop, like a hundred stations ago. Hiro ran his hands through his hair in thought, going through his options. He definitely needed to get off, and on to another train headed back east. The teen stared at the diagram to see which ones were active, then got off the second stop after the next one.

All he knew was that he was downtown somewhere, and not in the more populated, touristy section. Hiro didn't like how he felt that he was the only one left on the platform as he waited either. Since it was later in the evening, he had to wait for what felt like forever for the next train.

Then he heard something odd. It sounded like something had whizzed by his head. Hiro looked over his shoulder, and somehow noticed a large red shiruken stuck in the concrete column next to him. Then from behind the column stepped out a tall Japanese lady, dressed in a modern punk style geisha outfit, and the inline skates she wore exaggerated her height. "Fancy meeting you here, Zero."

 _Fuck._  Hiro's mind began reeling from the fact that he was in no way ready for this.

Before he was able to key in an alert on his smart watch, the teen was grabbed from behind by another Fujita who came out of nowhere. She was on roller skates, they all were. Hiro still managed to break free from squirming out of her grip, and fell to the concrete. The three of them surrounded him, keeping him away from Baymax, still in case form.

"Ow, Baymax,  _help_!" Hiro shouted. He had to say something to get his robot guardian to activate, because he hadn't yet. The girls also kept throwing weapons and punches at him, keeping him unable to reach the robot. He blocked a strong blow, his watch taking the brunt of it. The cracked face from the watch felt off in his next evasive maneuver to dodge another attack. His hopes in getting out of this in one piece plummeted, because they also must have inactivated Baymax with something. His robot stopped inflating immediately after his command.

"Baymax, su—" Hiro yelled at him anyway. His next words were cut off when a Fujita grabbed him more tightly into a chokehold.

"He's not as much of a fighter like your other ones, eh?" she spoke with a malicious tone into the younger Hamada's ear. "Don't worry…. we can fix that."

"No.. no, no!" Hiro wheezed as he dug his fingers into her arm, trying to relieve the pressure off his windpipe. Then he quickly drove his closest elbow into her solar plexus, his adrenalin on overload. That was enough to loosen her grip around his neck, but she still held him by his other arm. The teen retaliated with a series of kicks at her feet and legs to knock her off balance.

"Take the robot," another Fujita barked to the punk who spotted Hiro earlier, lurking further back on the platform. "We gotta finish this before the next train comes!"

Hiro fought back in every way he could without his superstition to back him up, but they were just as skilled against all his attacks. It literally became a fight for his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you this chapter was going to be a trip. It was truly cathartic for me as well, since I was dealing with many unfortunate things in my life during this chapter.
> 
> Since I started this fic, I've also fancied the idea that Hiro wasn't so great with English, or reading and writing a lot. Could not really find a valid reason, apart that maybe prodigies may not always be smart in every area, due to left brain/right brain reasons (aka Einstein was a dyslexic). But then I read this other fanfic, and loved the idea that was used. It was from ShippingLikeAPackage's collection (on fanfic.net) of one shot stories, "How to Survive with a Big Brother: Hamada Edition". The one in question was Chapter 11. ;D
> 
> Thank you again for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, another update! If it's any reassurance, I do promise to finish this despite the time it takes to make new updates.
> 
> That aside, here we are with this next installment of Indomitable Force. Warnings for martial arts violence, and the graphic aftermath of being attacked (trigger warnings).

" _Fire is life, not just destruction._ "  
— Sun Warrior philosophy from Avatar: TLA (yes!)

* * *

The sounds of combat filled the subway platform as more blows were dealt between the tall Geisha on roller blades and Hiro. Blood oozed from his nose after he failed to block a swipe to his face. Even though his legs felt like lead, he spun to kick at another girl. That was when a flash of fire crossed his line of vision.

"Catch, Raiden-boy," someone tossed him his pair of electro-magnetized gloves. Without wasting any more time, the battle-weary teen put them on. More balls of fire flew past him to hit two of the women, lighting their clothes on fire. While the two were distracted with putting out the flames, a dark figure closed in with more flame-packed kicks and punches like that of an master fire bender.

Hiro had helped by sending out two electro-charged blasts to shock the third one until she collapsed.

"Leave him alone!" the shadowy silhouette shouted, grabbing the ball and chain from one of them. "You got what you want!"

"Ta..Tadashi?" The voice was so haunting. Hiro tried to make out anything recognizable about this fire-welding person. He stumbled upon himself and fell down. Then a couple wide arcs of flame came from the dark form's kicks, followed with another onslaught of fire. With their hair and clothes completely ablaze, the group of Japanese women retreated hastily as they shrieked in agony.

Hiro felt so weak now and it took all his strength to sit up. He couldn't see that shadow that sounded like his brother anymore. Maybe it was because everything was dark and hard to make out. And everything hurt all over, he closed his eyes in surrender.

"Hiro..."

The younger Hamada tried to open his eyes to see where his brother was again. "You.. came back.."

"I never really left, bonehead. Now, I want you to wake up."

"I.. am..."

"No, you gotta wake up."

Hiro was gradually becoming more aware of how much pain he was in, so much it was confusing him even more.

"You really need to find help, otouto..." the voice was barely audible now.

"Tada-nii... wait," Hiro wheezed, fearful that he was all alone again. He tasted the salty, iron taste of blood in his mouth. The coldness of the hard, gritty cement that he was laying face-down on seemed to exaggerate his misery. He opened his eyes, but it was dimly lit and hard to make out. Where did his brother go?

Never mind that… where was he?

He realized his arm was hanging over a ledge and he heard the whine and rumble of something growing louder. This caused him to make a stronger effort to move, to see where he was. Then the noise swept by him suddenly, the brightly lit subway cars flew past him just a couple feet in front of him. Hiro pressed himself against the wall on the narrow ledge in the subway tunnel, squeezing his eyes shut. The lights from the cars, and the mix of hot and cold stinky air blowing by him made him feel more panicked and queasy.

His head throbbed, his face and lip felt swollen. His left arm below the elbow just ached horribly, as did his shoulder where he got stabbed. The teen clutched his aching arm against himself and tried to breathe more deeply to calm down, except his ribs hurt a lot too. It was then he noticed that he didn't have his gloves anymore. His knuckles hurt and both hands felt weird.

But, his brother.. what happened to him? Tadashi sounded so real… his last words, he heard him so clearly. Hiro swallowed back the lump in his throat, confused about what was real and what wasn't. He longed for Tadashi's help, because it was hard to decide what he needed to do next. The younger Hamada felt so nauseous and sick, so cold, and so very scared. The platform also looked so far away when he glanced over in that direction. How did he get way over here anyway? More importantly, why was it so hard to think?

Before getting up, he noticed something in his right hand. The teen uncurled his stiff, sticky fingers to find a bloody throwing knife digging into his palm. Disgusted, he threw the blade out onto the tracks and closed his bleeding hand. Keeping his fists closed, he struggled to get up and lean against the wall. His head started to spin after a few steps and he had to stop because he was going to throw up.

* * *

"He's got a pulse. That's good at least."

"Oh god, he looks bad..."

"Hey, hey… can you wake up," he felt someone grip his shoulder gently.

Hiro responded to the feminine voices finally, willing himself to open his eyelids. He winced now from the sharp edges of the stairs cutting into his side. It took him a moment, but he remembered making it as far to the stairway next to the platform before stopping to rest. He also swallowed again in an effort to get the unpleasant taste of puke out of his mouth. The teen pushed himself up, blinking in attempt to clear his blurry vision. Hiro could not understand why, but he suddenly felt fearful of the two women.

"It's okay, little man.. what happened?" the woman with dark skin and curly hair gripped his shoulders to help him sit up more. "Can I call your parents?"

"No.. parents…" he muttered, wondering who these women were anyway. He squinted at them, not recognizing much, but something kept bugging him to not trust anyone.

"Are you.. homeless?"

"No..."

"Is there anyone we can call for you?"

"I'm going to call 911." Her friend added, hovering over them. "He needs help."

"No.. no 911..." Hiro managed to protest, shaking his head. He did understand that calling 911 would get the authorities involved, and for some reason now, he just did not want that. "No.. ambulance... either."

"Then who..? I can call them for you."

Hiro stared at her phone after she knelt down by him, ready to dial something. He still wasn't sure if he should tell her anything that personal yet. The look she had on her soft brown face was that of genuine kindness and concern.

"Not sure…" he knitted his brows, trying to think. "Who.. are you?"

"S' okay, take your time, honey. You must have been through a lot," the kind woman sat by him on the stairs. "I'm Amaya. We're nursing students on our way back home, when I saw you here."

 _I was going home too…_  Hiro rubbed his temples, knowing that much. He still needed time to try and think about what to do. If he did call someone, who would he call? He didn't want to call Aunt Cass, mostly just to protect her identity. But the very thought of telling her about how he got beat up scared him worse than the gangsters. Not that GoGo would be any better. However, just trying to think of anyone's phone number also became difficult.

"We could take you to the hospital if you're not sure," Amaya asked him, still very much worried about his condition .

"Are you sure you don't want us to call 911?"

Hiro shook his head and sighed. If he didn't say something, they may end up deciding for him. They didn't act very suspicious though, and they did wear colorful scrubs and carried book bags. Hopefully they weren't with the people trying to hurt him. Yama's gang did get what they wanted… what more did they need?

He sighed, finally giving in. The teen slowly called out a set of numbers for her to dial, and waited for his friend to pick up. It was very likely the strange number was not recognized, because the call was not answered.

"Call again," Hiro whispered hoarsely.

The phone rang just as long, but it was finally answered by a slightly annoyed voice.

Since his hands were bloody, Hiro made no effort to take the phone from her. She realized this and held it close to his mouth for him to talk.

" _Hey, hello? Hellooo?_ " Fred's voice asked again.

"It's me, Hiro..."

" _Hiro? Wait… why are you calling from this number?_ "

He was silent for a moment, just trying to find the words to explain this. Really, why was it so hard to talk and think? His voice sounded congested from the swelling in his nasal cavity too. "I.. I got mugged. I—"

" _Oh no! Are you okay?_ "

"No… It's bad—"

" _Do the others know yet?_ "

"No. I couldn't. Baymax.. was stolen," Hiro started to sound worse, as he tried to control his emotions. "I need to.. to go to.. the hospital."

" _Okay… um, yeah, I can._ " It sounded like he was moving around through doors at that point. " _Wait, so... where are you_?"

"A subway station.. downtown.." he really could not remember the station's name. Fortunately, Amaya noticed his struggle and took over the conversation to explain where they are. She also explained to Fred that they will be at street level, and will stay with Hiro until he got there.

"Hiro's your name, right? We're going to take you up to the street," she gently held his right arm to help him to his feet. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah… but.. dizzy," he still felt awkward about this, even though it was a blessing to have the stranger's help. He was so used to being the hero, it felt weird now to be the victim. That wasn't supposed to happen. Not like this.

"We'll go slow," Amaya reassured him, while her friend followed behind because he insisted on staying close to the handrail. "You feel really hot too… that's not good."

"Figures..." he guessed that was because he was also sick to begin with. Hiro didn't say anything more, apart from silently hoping Fred would not take long.

There was a bench at a bus stop near the station that the girls took Hiro too. A few long minutes passed before they noticed a sleek black Mercedes-Benz sports car pull up to the curb. Hiro had serious doubts until he saw Fred pop out from the driver's side. He decided his brain was playing tricks again, cause it usually was Heathcliff driving the classic Rolls Royce.

"Hiro, buddy! Oh man.. I got here as fast I as I could," Fred practically slid across the top of the hood to get over to the younger Hamada on the sidewalk.

Hiro totally felt what Fred said merited a sassy response, but he really wasn't up for saying much now. All that he could do was give his friend a really confused look.

"My Dad's," the lanky redhead opened the passenger side door for Hiro. "Long story… but, um.. get in, we'll talk later."

Hiro complied, albeit slowly, as he sat down on the dark grey leather seat inside.

"Thank you as well, my gracious ladies!" Fred smiled boldly as he bowed to the two women, before hurrying back over to his side.

Hiro sat hunched forward, his arms folded and pressed against his body. Another wave of nausea hit him again from everything happening all at once. Fred went back around to slide in behind the wheel.

"How bad is it?" he looked over to him, greatly concerned.

"Bad," Hiro whimpered. "Sorry if... I mess up your car."

"Don't worry.. about… it," Fred started, but then Hiro suddenly moved to open the door just in time to puke outside. "So, um.. yeah, whenever you're ready, buddy."

* * *

After getting to the Emergency Room, it did not take long for them to get Hiro in quickly to be seen. Fred ended up doing the paperwork for his friend since he still felt off, not to mention just not being able to remember very much, let alone write. He also had a thousand questions about what happened to him, but Hiro just did not have the spirit to explain everything. The most the short genius could say was that he got beat up by a bunch of thugs while waiting for a subway train.

Unfortunately, things got even more tricky when they asked about the availability of Hiro's parents. This quickly changed to the discussion of any consenting legal guardians in order for them to get permission for full medical treatment. Something of which Hiro was really getting tired of hearing about now. Fred, however, could not pass for as such because he was one year shy of being twenty-one, nor could he prove that he was also one of Hiro's appointed guardians.

So Fred ended up calling Aunt Cass for Hiro, since he suddenly looked too sick, or upset, or both, to be able to do so himself. Fortunately, for the younger Hamada, it went right to her voicemail.

Regardless, the hospital staff admitted Hiro right away to a room as he waited for her to call back. His high fever, signs indicating a concussion, and bleeding injuries were serious enough to merit immediate care. Changing into the gown was a nuisance, but he took it in stride. Fred had a hard time keeping his face straight when one of the staff asked about Hiro's level of pain on a scale from one to ten. However, the IV bag procedure became a whole other matter that the staff had to address differently when Hiro resisted them. They reassured him repeatedly that this was the best way to administer the pain reliever, fever reducer, and anti-nausea medicine since he was throwing up a lot.

Once everyone finished with their preparations and left him alone, Fred helped Hiro situate icepacks on his face, head, and ribs. The teen finally let out a defeated sigh, staring up at the ceiling. "I  _hate_  hospitals…"

"Hang in there, buddy," Fred leaned on the railing of the bed, hoping to reassure Hiro after all that. He didn't really know a whole lot about the little guy before, but times like these spoke volumes. Hiro was able to get surprisingly frangry for someone in his condition. Of course, he had also noticed how much more open Hiro was around him, or GoGo, than he was with the others. "You wanna watch some TV?"

His pale-faced, exhausted friend just shrugged, not changing the sullen expression on his face.

"Oh yeah… Aunt Cass called back."

Then Hiro suddenly looked alarmed, trying to sit up as a couple ice packs fell down from his face.

"Don't worry, I didn't answer… since it was when you were cussing out the nurses about 'no needles', " Fred smiled slightly, just from his reaction. He located the remote hanging from the bed railing. "She sent a text that she's on her way."

"Great…" Hiro worked his sore jaw for a moment, then finally asked another question. "Where's Heathcliff?"

"Oh, my dad let him have a break to visit his relatives over the weekend. His flight got carried over… so not back yet. My dad had to attend to some business matter too."

"Didn't know you.. can drive," he added, closing his eyes.

"Heh, yeah. But I only if I have to. I put off enough emissions as is," the fanboy sat back in the chair as he flipped through the channels on the TV in search of any quality cartoons. He decided to let Hiro rest and let the medicines kick in before asking any more questions, like how to get Baymax back. Fred settled on some bizarre science fiction space show that they watched in silence for awhile.

"Freddy?" Hiro broke the silence, squinting against the bright lights. "Thank you.. for bringing me here… and staying."

"Anytime, brah. Anytime," he patted Hiro on the arm.

Hiro pressed his eyes closed again, swallowing. His face wrinkled up for a moment like he was trying to concentrate. Fred did hope he was going to be okay, since the hospital people got real worried about how bad Hiro's concussion might be. That condition would literally be like Hiro's kryptonite, since his crazy smarts was his superpower.

"I think I saw my brother," the younger Hamada whispered. "He was throwing fire… like Zuko."

"Really?" Fred just raised an eyebrow, completely not expecting to hear that news. Okay, time to really start worrying about the little Hamada's brain bruises. "Did he… talk to you?"

"Yeah…"

"And he had… actual fire bending powers?"

"Yeah... I know," Hiro must be finally realizing just how crazy this sounded. "I… just remember being surrounded, but I.. I don't remember all what happened, really. I mean.. I know they took Baymax.. he wasn't.. activating."

Hiro rubbed his aching arm then pulled up more of the blankets to his chest. "I fought back as much as I could, but I.. I couldn't keep up… Tadashi didn't stay."

"Sorry 'bout that, little dude," Fred nodded, still not too sure what to say in response about his brother. He did ask his dad earlier over the weekend about any conspiracy theories about the incident at SFIT's convention hall. His Dad just said he'll get back with him on that later, in such a way that Fred couldn't tell what he thought.

But this, this was a reality check. A sign telling him he had to seize his dad's offer to help the team. As much as he wanted to believe it, the cold, hard truth was that they weren't like real superheroes with special powers. They were still just a bunch of geeks in science-powered supersuits. Hiro got hurt like this because he did not have his suit, and his own natural ability was not yet enough.

This reminded Fred how one time Hiro told him about his idea to redesign all their suits, using nanobot tech to compact the supersuit armor into a device, such as a watch, so that they could wear all times. Unfortunately, that idea required additional time and money to accomplish, none of which that Hiro had at the moment.

"Want me to alert the others so we can start looking for our robot buddy?" Fred still asked him.

Hiro just shook his head no. He raised his broken arm up to sweep aside his hair out of habit but stopped himself because that action hurt too much to do. "Yama hates my guts, so he stole Baymax to get even… I just needed money for Baymax, and.. Big Hero 6. Now I feel…  _really_  stupid."

Fred touched his arm again, getting Hiro's attention. "Y'know… there's something I've been thinking about over the weekend – especially since my dad got to meet you guys. It just makes sense now if I help you out more with funding Big Hero 6. My Dad's already wanting to help. So... what do you say, buddy?"

Hiro shook his head 'no' again, "I-I'm not sure, yet… I don't want you to feel obliged..."

"It's no problem really, Hiro. My Dad can help us with a lot. In fact, his 007 car scanned you for tracking devices, and it came up negative. So they didn't—"

"Aww, no…no, no.." Hiro suddenly groaned, burying his face into an ice pack.

"Um, what?" Fred started to worry if this was just too much for Hiro to take in.

"No… you're okay.. " he looked up to explain. "I just remembered.. I was borrowing GoGo's laptop. It was in my backpack, which they also stole."

"Oh…" Fred understood his dilemma, and it was a really big dilemma . "Oooh… noo. That's not good."

The defeated prodigy sighed, putting the ice pack back on the side of his face.

"Oh god, sweetie!" Aunt Cass rushed into the room, and was right beside her nephew before he could react. "How bad is it?"

Hiro really could not find the words to answer her at that moment. Her hands were on his shoulders then lightly holding his face as she looked him over.

"I'm so sorry about this! You really must feel horrible!" she gushed as she motioned him to move away the ice pack on his face so she could see the swelling and bruises.

"I'm sorry.. too.. Auntie," Hiro finally whimpered. The emotions from the whole ordeal suddenly welled up from inside. She gently pulled him closer for a hug until he was able to calm down.

"This is why I worry.. you're all I have!" she just had to say that as another grim reminder about his own mortality. His aunt leaned back to push aside his matted bangs from his dirty, tear stained face. "Gosh… what happened, sweetie? I thought you were studying, not… superhero-ing! And what happened to your armored suit?"

"It. It wasn't anything superhero related… I fell asleep on the subway... 'cause of my cold. Didn't wake up until I was downtown.. where I got mugged on the subway platform," Hiro sniffled, looking down at his blood-stained hands.

Fred just nodded, intervening to cut Hiro some slack. "Yeah, some ladies found him, and they called me.. to pick him up."

"Wait, who beat you up? Was it the gangs all of you were fighting the other day?" His aunt looked him square in the eyes, her hands on both shoulders.

Hiro just worked his mouth, looking unsure again. Whether he was using his Jedi mind tricks on her that time, it was hard to tell. "I.. I don't know. But, how did you know.. about the gangs..?"

"Baymax told me what you were up against earlier," Aunt Cass explained. "Where is he now?"

Hiro hesitated for a second, but his eyes did not waiver as he lied. "I left him back at the lab."

"Why didn't you call me sooner?" Aunt Cass was quick to ask next.

"I.. they stole my stuff. And.. I didn't want to give your number to strangers," Hiro responded softly, as if to try to appease her with his tone.

"I don't mean to get upset.. I just... I can't believe this!" Aunt Cass straightened up a little. "But we need to report this to the authorities. It's getting too dangerous! I don't want you and your friends to deal with those gangs anymore. Especially as superheroes!"

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his eyes shifting from hers to his hands again. This was not good news for either of them.

His aunt sighed again. Then turned around to look for something over by the sink. "You are such a mess. Here…" Aunt Cass got up to wet some paper towels at the sink, then grabbed some dry ones too. She sat back down next to her nephew to clean him up.

"Ow… careful," Hiro whined, shying away a little when she dabbed at the abrasion on his forehead. "Can't they do that..?"

"I'm surprised they haven't yet."

"They needed permission first…"

"For this? This should just be basic first aid!"

Hiro winced as she cleaned up more of his face. "I also need x-rays—"

"Yes, I was told that, and possibly CAT scans for your head and chest," Aunt Cass paused, looking at his hand that was holding a wad of gauze. Her gaze shifted to his shoulder were she noticed a spot where some blood was coming through the gauze under his gown. "And stitches. Where did you get stabbed?"

"Don't.. worry about it, Aunt Cass…" he gently pushed her hands away before she was able to look at his shoulder.

Fred had wondered if Hiro's aunt also didn't know about the stitches Baymax gave him a few days ago from the gunshot incident. The stab wound was in the shoulder above that injury, so that could explain his uneasy nature.

He looked back to the TV show again, trying to not gawk at their catty arguments too much. The man child didn't remember being nearly as fussy when he was a teenager, but maybe that was because his parents weren't nearly as overbearing. Not that Aunt Cass was overbearing, she was pretty cool… well, as long as she wasn't upset. However, being told that they couldn't do anymore superhero work sounded kind of serious. Heathcliff, on the other hand, was pretty easy to work with, no matter the situation they got into.

"I don't know…" Aunt Cass was showing more of her impatience again, mostly toward the hospital staff. "I'm going to find someone about this. They should have gotten my paperwork by now."

That time, Hiro didn't try to stop her, and audibly sighed after she left. "I  _really_  miss Baymax…"

Fred nodded, then looked at him suddenly. "Oh snap… was this the hospital that you guys went to after the earthquake?"

"Doesn't really matter now.." he shook his head.

"Feeling better?" Fred asked, apparently not going to dwell on that thought. He folded his arms on top of the bed rail again to look at Hiro. "You don't have that 'gonna spew' look anymore."

Hiro twisted his face, "I don't have anything  _left_  to spew…."

Fred was about to say something in return, but his phone rang. He pulled it out to answer, but stopped when he noticed it was GoGo. The majority of the time when she called him, it was just to get a hold of Hiro. Then the look he got from Hiro reaffirmed his decision to not answer. "Was GoGo expecting to meet up with you?"

Hiro couldn't remember at that moment, shaking his head. "Uhm.. what time.. is it?"

"Uh.. almost 11 o'clock."

".… Really?"

Fred's phone started making more noises that indicated her text alerts soon after. "Oh yeah… she's hot for me now," the hopeless fanboy teased Hiro as he looked over the messages.

"What'd she say?"

"She's… wondering where you are cause you're not responding to her texts. And if you still need help with your project.. she's free now," he looked over to Hiro. Then just to mess with him, only because it was just that obvious, he made up something else. "And… that GoGo really misses you, and wonders when you can go out on a da—"

"What? She didn't!" Hiro knocked an icepack to the floor trying to reach for his phone. "Lemme see!"

"Nooo..." Fred held it away from him.

"Dude. Please!"

"Seriously, bud…. GoGo is asking when she can hook up with you," Fred turned his chair away from Hiro, looking at the texts. The kid genius must be crushing on her hard to get this worked up.

"Then just let me reply, Fred!" Hiro was practically leaning over the bed railing, no longer caring if his gown and IVs were getting all messed up.

"I thought your hands were 'broken'," Fred looked over his shoulder to his wanna-be brother, raising an eyebrow.

"She can't know about the lap—"

There was a knock on the door before it opened, and a nurse came in with Aunt Cass following behind. They had stopped talking at the moment that Hiro quickly sat back to adjust his gown before covering himself back up with the blankets. And of course, his argument with Fred abruptly ended as well.

 _Hello, nurse!_  Fred smirked, pocketing his phone.

The rather attractive lady nurse quickly introduced herself, and then prepared the items needed to start on the stitches.

"They're still not ready for the X-rays," Aunt Cass added, looking over to her Hamada. "And they also want you to stay for at least 24 hours for observation due to your injuries."

"Wow…" Fred frowned.

Hiro had scrunched his face in further disappointment. He probably would have face-palmed if he could have. Since Aunt Cass appeared further engaged with discussion about what she was going to do, Hiro leaned over to whisper to Fred. "Just… text GoGo that I 'm really sick… I'll tell her what happened.. later."

"Okay. So… um, want me to hold your hand this time?" Fred nodded him in response, then shifted his gaze to the nurse standing on the other side, prepping an assortment of needles. Yeah, the needle fear thing the young genius had was something he was not going to let slide so easily either. Because it was needles, not something truly life threatening like a super villain throwing a thousand microbots at you, or buildings collapsing from a fire or an earthquake.

Hiro looked over to the nurse, and as expected, cringed. "Oh no.. no, no, no!" he said to no one in particular, leaning away from her

"Oh sweetie, it'll be okay," Aunt Cass stepped over to sit on the bed next to her nephew so she could pull him close for some encouragement. "You can do this."

"Why are there so  _many_?" Hiro still resisted the idea, but not his aunt's comforting arms this time.

"I am starting on his hand, since the doctor wants to check his shoulder injury," the brunette explained the plan to Aunt Cass first, before talking more to Hiro. "We will also need to give you a tetanus shot. But first, this one is just some local anesthesia for your hand so you don't feel the stitches, okay?"

It took Hiro a moment, but he finally stretched out his hand for her. For added distraction, the nurse started asking him random ice breaker questions to find out what he liked. That, somehow, got Fred talking more instead. So maybe he was unintentionally flirting with her, but what else could he do? She was funny and kind of cute.

As if sensing his flirtatious boredom, Aunt Cass told him he was free to go home now that she was there. After some thought, he agreed that he might as well. There was still this paper he had to finish up.

That of course reminded Hiro he would be missing his English Lit class again, and that his memory chip with his paper and his robotics project was in his backpack. Fred reminded him that Hiro had emailed him a draft for him to check, but that wasn't the problem. Hiro also had backups of his project back at the lab as well. The unspoken concern was if the data fell into the wrong hands. Hiro didn't clearly state that problem because he didn't want to set off Aunt Cass again, but Fred caught his drift. Then the two also had to come up with reasons why it was okay that Aunt Cass didn't need to go to the lab to bring things over for Hiro.

* * *

Every few hours thereafter brought something different. It ranged from a series of high tech imagery, to waiting, to more tests, and finally treatments. Hiro was finally taken to one of the regular rooms in the children's wing for further observations for the rest of the day. Possibly the most annoying part was being awakened every couple of hours to make sure he was still able to talk and walk to the bathroom okay.

Once Aunt Cass felt more at ease that things were more stable, she left to get a few things from home, such as a clean set of clothes for Hiro to change into later, the laptop, and anything else to pass the afternoon. Her café was not yet ready to open, but this did set her back a day for opening it by the end of the week. She tried to not say anything about that to Hiro just yet, since he was also worried about falling behind during finals week.

The window shades were drawn to block out the bright late morning sunlight. Hiro had said that the bright lights were making his head hurt more, but he also just wanted it darker so he could sleep. He seemed pretty tired now too, so she had her doubts he would actually get much work done there. Hiro really wanted her to bring the laptop so he also could talk with his friends about something. For some reason, her nephew refused to just call them using the phone in his room, or even her own cell.

"Hey sweetie," she placed a hand on his forehead to check his temperature, then gripped his shoulder to wake him. It looked like he had dozed off watching something on TV. He had pulled the blankets up around himself, his knees drawn in close. There was also the blue cast on his left arm and IVs trailing from his right arm, with a couple other wires monitoring heart rate.

"I brought back your other favorite hoodie. Not sure if you can get it on, but I can drape it over your shoulders for now."

He was complaining about being cold too, with the skimpy gown he still had to wear. Aunt Cass already took home his other blood stained clothes, but his blue SFIT hoodie looked unsalvageable. She was afraid she would have to get him another.

Her nephew just blinked, looking at her for a moment as if trying to remember where he was before sleep took over.

"How do you feel?" her hand was still on his shoulder. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Not hungry," he was able to whisper, after licking his dry lips. The most he had the desire to eat so far was Jello. It was a reassuring revelation, to some degree, that the majority of his discomfort was caused from a determined flu virus. What they could see so far from the CAT scans was that his concussion wasn't as bad as feared.

Aunt Cass offered an insulated cup filled with ice water and a straw for him to drink some of anyway. Hiro did, reluctantly, while she pulled out his well-worn, navy hoodie and wrapped him up in it. "I have my laptop also."

"Thanks," Hiro attempted to slide the arm with a cast into the sleeve, only to make his own discovery that really wasn't going to work. He sighed and pulled the hood up over his head instead.

"I'm going to run down to get a sandwich from their cafeteria. Are you sure you don't want anything?" Aunt Cass asked him again. She also remembered to take her laptop out and set it on his rolling bedside table, trailing out the cord to plug it in.

"I'm fine," Hiro told her automatically, opening up the computer.

Aunt Cass straightened up and gave him a doubtful look, not believing that statement. He was looking listless again, and that worried her. "Please let me know if you need  _anything_ , okay?"

Hiro just nodded, his attentions more on the laptop now.

* * *

Her aunt did call his bluff, because he felt pretty sick to his stomach now, as well as feeling dizzy again. Hiro hadn't felt that way a couple hours earlier and now he began to suspect it might have been from some kind of pills they had him take. He still struggled to get used to the dull aches in his arm and chest from the broken bones too.

Going back to sleep tempted him strongly, but he had something he really wanted Fred to check out. The one thing he didn't let Aunt Cass know was that it was GoGo's laptop that was in his back pack. All of this was way too serious to just heed her request to let the police handle it. He started to wonder if there were any clues left behind at the subway platform. Hopefully that was something Fred could do by himself. Aunt Cass also held her word by calling this in, so he had no idea how seriously the police would act on it. The other concern was just where he could find Yama's gang and his elite. GoGo might know more on that… once he broke the news to her.

Hiro opted for a video chat with Fred again, just because he still wasn't up for typing.

"Hey buddy! Looking a little better," Fred remarked, probably noticing his bandages and hoodie. His friend was back home again from what he saw in the background.

Hiro shrugged. "I still feel like crap though…"

"Ooo… can I draw something on your cast?"

The young genius smiled briefly, before getting to business. He only had so much time before Aunt Cass got back. "Sure... but I wonder if you can do something else."

"Oh yes… what is my next mission?" Fred pointed his fingers together in anticipation.

"Go back to the subway station I was at last night, and look around for any clues.. or if my stuff is anywhere. Starting to wonder if they just tossed my backpack," Hiro explained, keeping his voice low.

"Sure thing, Hero."

"Aunt Cass did call the police… so just look and act natural. Just in case they are looking around there too. No supersuit, okay, Freddy?" he added.

"Okay... practice the art of invisibility. No problemo," Fred nodded, pursing his lips and looking determined.

"Thanks…"

"Did you tell the others what happened?"

"Not yet. I'm going to talk to Gogo next," Hiro sighed, really not looking forward to that. He took a moment to think while tapping on the table in thought. "I'm not sure how we going to look for Baymax, but.. I don't want to waste too much time. They could be dismantling him into something.. far more.. dangerous..."

He had trailed off, the reality finally hitting him now that his senses were returning. His last horrific dream was much more than a nightmare, it was a premonition.

"Um, you okay?" Fred did notice his change in expression.

He rubbed his temple with his right hand, trying to dismiss his apprehension. Hiro hadn't really told the others about the extent of that nightmare from earlier, just GoGo. "It's just… I had this dream last week, about Baymax.. as a killing machine."

"Yeah… but you've had dreams like that, right?""

"This one was different… Baymax had rapid fire guns with armor piercing bullets…" he sat back, closing his eyes as he spoke the last words, "He was.. shooting at me... until I couldn't breath…"

"Ugh," Fred just made a face.

Hiro nodded, opening his eyes but his gaze was to the ceiling. "Really need to think this one through."

"Yeah…"

They were silent for a long second, only because Hiro was trying to think of anything else important to say. "Might get to go home sooner, in the afternoon.. instead of at night."

"Hey, that's good news," Fred leaned back a little to show him an exaggerated close-up of his thumbs up. "You might be part Wolverine after all!"

"Shya… I am so done with this!" Hiro held up his right hand with the IV tubes hanging down from it.

"For real!" Fred agreed with a nod. "I guess Aunt Cass is not there?"

Hiro nodded. "She went down to get some lunch."

"Aunt C let you live! Huzzah!" the fan boy cheered.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Let me know what you find out... I might be home later."

"Right."

"Oh... Aunt Cass is going to get me a phone too. For emergency situations." Long story short, his aunt took away all his cellphone privileges about a year ago when the over confident genius tinkered a little too much with his last phone, otherwise adversely affecting Aunt Cass's cell phone bills.

"Ooo… excellent!" Fred gave him a thumbs up, but then suddenly looked sad. "I guess this means every one won't be calling me anymore."

"I'll still call you," Hiro tried, and then realized just how awkward that sounded.

Fred just smiled, waiving his hand to indicate that was okay. "Are you gonna get it today?"

"Doubtful," he snorted. "But if I do, I could try to contact Baymax with—"

Hiro's eyes darted to the left, noticing the door push open before Aunt Cass came inside.

"Hey sweetie!

"Hi, Aunt Cass," Hiro responded, glancing briefly back to the computer screen for Fred to figure it out.

"Who are you talking to?" she walked over to him, her hands also full with a bag of opened chips and a white take-out container. The instant she saw who it was, Fred readily greeted her with a wave. "How are you, Fred?"

"Doing good!" The fan boy grinned in the most exaggerated way. "I'm going to let you guys go for now. But if you need anything else, you know who to call, okay buddy?"

"See yah," he was relieved Fred took the cue to end the video chat there. Not that he didn't want her to eavesdrop, he just felt it was better for Fred to get going on his assignment.

"I brought along more Jello for you," she set the white container and a plastic spoon in front of him next to the laptop.

"Thanks…" Except Hiro literally felt his stomach lurch in protest. It was getting harder to for him to hide his queasiness at this point. "But.. I… really don't feel good."

Naturally, she was all over his face again checking to see if he had a fever. "Do you have a headache?"

Hiro shook his head no, grimacing slightly. His whole head just felt weird, but he didn't want to make an issue about that. "Just feel like puking."

"Oh, that's not good," Aunt Cass clicked her tongue. "Try to get more sleep. Your school work can wait. But.. let me have someone check on you."

"I still need to talk to GoGo about my project," Hiro protested weakly.

Aunt Cass looked at him with a sigh. She located the nurse button above his bed and pushed it. "Go ahead then."

The younger Hamada sighed, not happy that she called a nurse to check on him. That might mean not leaving early now. He was really getting fed up with all of this, and doing his best to not worry about just what those punks were doing to Baymax.

Trying to refocus, he stared at the icons on the laptop for a moment. This time he opted for a FacePage messenger program because Aunt Case was there. He still wasn't ready to let GoGo see him in the hospital like this. With part of a cast around one hand, and gauze tightly wrapping the other, his typing speed wasn't very fast either.

[Hamada2] Hey GoGo

[Zoomin] Hiro! What happened ?

[Hamada2] Puking my guts out

[Zoomin] It got that bad?

[Hamada2] Yeah

[Hamada2] Aunt Cass wont let me go in cuz I was sick

[Zoomin] That sux

[Hamada2] Absolutely

[Zoomin] You're coming in tomorrow, right?

[Hamada2] Actually…. could u bring Geronimo here today

[Zoomin] And I am going to have him piggy back on my bike…?

[Hamada2] No… he packs up like Baymax

[Zoomin] How does he do that?

[Hamada2] He should b in alt mode

[Zoomin] Which is…?

[Hamada2] A grey box… u will see in my lab

[Zoomin] And … how am I going to get inside your lab?

Hiro stopped to consider the possibly of GoGo getting Geronimo to activate from her voice command outside the lab door, but decided he better not try that this time.

[Hamada2] Yeah come visit me … ltr at the cafe

[Zoomin] When?

[Hamada2] I txt u … Aunt Cass is taking me to dr now

[Zoomin] You owe me for this

[Hamada2] Thanks

[Zoomin] :P

[Hamada2] Got other stuff to talk about too

[Zoomin] About your project?

A nurse came in then, asking openly if everything was okay. Aunt Cass went over to the elderly nurse to explain what he had told her. Hiro sighed, knowing he would have to wrap this up.

[Hamada2] Just lots of stuff

[Zoomin] Stuff?

He eyed the nurse, walking over to him to check the machines he was hooked up to. Hiro felt all this, the more serious matter about what happened to him and her laptop, would be best explained in person with her later.

[Hamada2] Yea.. gtg

[Zoomin] Alright, we'll talk then

[Hamada2] Bye

As predicted, the nurse came back with the blood pressure cuff and a few other instruments to check his symptoms again.

She nodded and then stepped aside with Aunt Cass to reassure her again that he appeared fine. He couldn't hear everything, but he caught the words alluding that his problem might have been a side effect from the pain reliever. Hopefully that meant he didn't have to stay longer.

That conversation was cut short when a police officer in full uniform stepped into the room, with another hospital staff.

 _Oh gosh, why now?_ Hiro narrowed his eyes, trying to contain his utmost displeasure. He slowly closed the laptop, then pushed the table aside. Then the teen tugged on his hood to pull it around him more before crossing his arms. This wasn't doing anything to help his sick feeling either. The nurse also left them alone at that time.

After the usual introductions, the officer, whom of which Hiro was fortunate enough to have not met before, briefly explained the purpose of his meeting with them. The last time he remembered being interviewed by the police was after Professor Callaghan had been brought in, and they also knew who he was as Hiro Hamada.

Whether she was doing this to irk him or not, his aunt pulled the hood back off his head. "Show your respect, let him see you," she told him, under her breath.

 _Like he needs to see my black eye and stitches to be convinced to find a backpack._ Hiro sighed, trying to not fidget with the IV tubes under his left hand while his arms were folded.

"Just remember, Hiro, these questions are to help us find the individuals who attacked you," the young offer explained, pulling out a tablet and stylus to write down his responses.

Hiro sighed, not trusting that reasoning. As far as he could tell, there obviously was no one else there to witness what happened during the fight. All this could as well just be speculation, plus he could easily play the amnesia card and they would believe it.

"What did you have in your possession when you got on the subway?"

"My backpack." Does this have to be a question?

"Just your backpack?"

"Yes, sir."

"What was in your backpack?"

"My laptop, data chips for my projects, some lab journals… proprietary information like that," Hiro tried to sound very serious just to give importance for his stuff. He was not going to say anything about Baymax being stolen, in order to stick to the story he told Aunt Cass.

"Did they take it, forcefully?"

"Yes," Hiro responded, really trying to not look annoyed by these elementary kind of questions.

"Who threw the first punch?"

Hiro knitted his brows, not answering that obvious question.

"Okay.. how much did you fight back?"

He still did not like that kind of question, and wondered what the police had on file about him. How much did Callaghan tell them about their battles earlier anyway? The one thing he honestly didn't remember was just how the fight ended. "They kept trying to restrain me.. I had too, out of defense."

"Did they have weapons?" he was busy tapping and typing everything Hiro explained.

"Um… yes."

"Do you remember what they had?"

"Knives.. swords," Hiro held up his wrapped hand. He vaguely remembered their fold-out fans being made up of knives, and a ball and chain, but that felt like too much information now. "Don't really remember exactly…"

"Okay, that's fine. This is the most important question: Can you describe the people who attacked you?" the police officer stopped his note-taking to ask the teen.

Hiro fell silent again. He knew, but if he did tell the police, just how could they apprehend these kind of gangsters? Yama's gang demonstrated hoe slick they were, and would without a doubt do what they could to turn the tables on him. How many were there, he was not sure at this point. They dashed in and out of the shadows from all angles.

"It's okay if you cannot talk about them now. Take your time… any information you provide will help us find who attacked you," the police offer made an effort to sound sincere.

 _I can still do a better job finding them… we know how they think,_ Hiro reflected, stealing a glance from the officer. He rubbed his neck as he tried to piece something together to say.

"They were women…" the Hamada looked to the officer. Realizing how lame that sounded, he finished the thought to justify that statement. "And maybe some guys."

"They all knew how to fight.. and looked Asian. I don't remember much else.." Because it was very likely he really did get beat up and left for dead by a bunch of women, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

"How many were there?"

"Like... a few. They were moving around too much."

"Was there anything that stood out? What did their clothes and hair look like?"

Hiro shook his head no, this time trying to not fidget. GoGo told him he did that when he was under pressure, or trying to hide something.

"Anything about body built, or height? Were they bigger than you?"

Hiro shook his head while looking down at his hands. He decided he was through with this and didn't want to say anymore. He felt sick, and he really just wanted to go back to sleep to escape that feeling.

"Nothing more you can think of?"

"No," he shook his head again, really hoping the officer was done.

"Excuse me, sir," Aunt Cass stepped closer to the officer since she also sensed he was wrapping up with his questions.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"How much do you know about my nephew?"

"On his record?" the officer sought clarification.

"If not just recently. Are you aware he likes to be a superhero?" the brunette put a hand on her hip, gesturing with the other as she spoke.

"Aunt Cass..!" Hiro tried to grab her attention, not wanting her to tell him about that. But she blatantly ignored him.

"He was the one helping you guys on the day of the earthquake, and he had confronted gangs who were looting the stores."

"He was with the big, red robot?" the officer nodded, his interest clearly piqued at this point.

"Aunt Cass, nooo!"

She barely gave the younger Hamada any acknowledgement, and then just nodded toward the door. "Can we step outside for a moment?"

He could not believe she was going to ignore his wishes and tell that officer everything about his secret superhero identity. That can't happen in this way!

Hiro really did not want to get up, but he had to find out if he could hear was she was saying. After pulling his hood back up over his head, unclipping his heart monitor, and sliding off the same side of the bed as the IV bags, the injured teen made his way over to the door with his IV stand to eavesdrop.

Ducking a little under the window at the door, he knelt close to the door in an effort to hear more clearly their words. As he had feared, Aunt Cass explained her concerns that the gangs they confronted on that day if the earthquake could be connected to this attack. The officer seemed amused by the reality of how young Hiro was to be doing that level of crime fighting. Then she had to add that he knew a lot more about things than any of them could imagine.

There was more random chit chat about him, and then the officer finally wrapped of the conversation with reassurances that they will take this information he collected to narrow down some suspects. Of course there was the obligatory advisory that they may not find the people in question or the stolen items right away, but they would do what they can.

Suddenly aware of the need to move away from the door before Aunt Cass noticed him, Hiro in all his gracefulness managed to trip himself up on one of the metal 'legs' on the IV stands. The IV stand didn't get knocked over, but he lost his balance. Fortunately, he managed to roll backwards semi-judo style as to not traumatize his arm in a cast. That motion still aggravated his tender ribs though.

"Oh no, Hiro sweetie!" Aunt Cash blurted out when she saw him go down after coming through the door. "Are you okay?"

"Just.. trying to go to the bathroom," Hiro groaned while she helped him back to his feet. "Tripped."

"Let me help you over there," she kept her arm under his shoulder while they walked the rest of the way over.

"…thanks."

After closing the door and situating his unwelcome IV friend, he just collapsed in front of the toilet. The light was so bright in there, and the fall didn't help him either. He finally gave in, dry heaving a couple times into the porcelain bowl until he heard Aunt Cass push open the door.

His worried aunt knelt down next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to pull him close. "It'll be okay," she whispered.

Hiro surrendered into her arms, squeezing his eyes shut. She swept aside some of his bangs from his now sweaty face, and then stroked his hair to help him relax.

"You shouldn't have told him I was a superhero…" he whispered, his eyes still shut.

"I don't want you to be a superhero right now," Aunt Cass spoke softly to him. "I just want my nephew, my Hiro Hamada. Let the police do what they do best."

He swallowed back a lump of emotion welling up in his throat and tried to keep his calm. At least she didn't seem to know that this gang unrest came from all the way back to his first encounter, when he and his brother were caught together with that first bust on Yama's gang. "How long until this drug wears off?" Hiro asked instead, not moving or opening his eyes yet.

"I think she said 2 or 3 more hours."

"Nnh…"

"Let's get you back in bed to get more sleep… I will ask for a different pain killer," Aunt Cass began helping him back up to his feet.

"Do I still get to go home this afternoon?"

"I think so," she tried to sound positive. "Oh, do you still have to 'go'?"

"Um… yeah," he sounded a little more modest.

"By yourself?" Aunt Cass didn't let go of him yet.

"Yeah," he nodded, making the motion he would sit down.

"I'll be out here, okay sweetie?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am excited for the new BH6 series. A part of me is wondering if that show will have similar type of adventures... dealing with normal life as a college kid while also still doing the superhero gig. I am curious that they would have more relationship building and backstory to all the characters. Or how the movie rumor about Tadashi as Sunfire fits into thus cartoon series (which hasn't really alluded to anything about Tadashi). Not that it matters… I am still fine if he is dead.
> 
> Part of me hopes it would be like Ironman Adventures, or the Avatar cartoons. Or… after just seeing this new series on Netflix... Voltron: Legendary Defender. Oh yeah, that would be totally rocking it if the show had that kind of great animation and profound characterization!
> 
> Thank you again for hanging with me! The next few chapters will finally start wrapping everything up.


	15. Chapter 15

 

Downtown, in the basement below an older vacated business building that sustained considerable damage from the earthquake, a faction of Yama's gang had claimed that area as their own for the next couple days. This nomadic behavior was what had helped them from being traced and caught as easily by the authorities.

Joined by Yama's son for his technical expertise, the three Fujita inspected their latest haul. The red medical case that the three girls brought was their top prize, and Kenochi wasted no time in figuring out how to crack it open. Eight hours had passed in the time it took Yama to respond with what he wanted them to do with the robot.

"{This kid has some  _weird_  shit}," Rinchi mused in their Japanese language. Her white facepaint had been removed hours ago, but she still wore her loosely fitted, dark pink printed kimono. It had shifted over so her left shoulder was revealed. She dug through the coal-colored backpack that they took from the young genius boy. Most of it was truly odds and ends, like random parts of pens, a couple chewed-on wooden pencils, some test tube vials with something inside that looked like metal beads, paper clips twisted together to resemble wire robots, spiral notebooks with menacing artwork scribbled on the covers in black and red permanent markers, and a silver laptop with stickers of metal and punk rock bands on the top of it. All that made the bag of half-eaten gummy bears and the wads of tissue look normal

"{And you do not?}" Mei looked over to her sadistic friend. The shorter girl had removed her kimono all together, and now wore a tank top, tight shorts, and tattered dark red fish-net tights. She had a dark bruise under her eye, but was more focused on applying more disinfectant to the handful of bite marks on her forearm. The sassy girl decided to redo the bandages to make sure they weren't getting infected. "{He's probably part vampire, that feisty little  _bastard_!}"

Rinchi snorted, her normal right eye glinting with resentment from how crazy their fight went down with that boy.

"{Seriously though, did you see anything strange during that fight, Rin?}" Mei asked next, reaching over to a make-shift table for some gauze. "{Before we left, I felt like I was on fire!}"

"{Yeah… I did too..}" That young battle bot pest had also pushed Rinchi to her limits, and she evened the odds by revealing her left eye. It had a pitch black iris and pupil that could see things not seen by the normal eye. Her special vision went beyond the present and into the supernatural. Her sisters-in-arms simply called it the Demon Eye, because it reflects like a mirror if anyone happened to look at it. A person could see all the evil they had within, otherwise leaving them in a temporary stupor. "{There  _was_  fire, but it was not from this world}."

"{Phantom fire?} Kimiko, their leader, looked over from watching Kenochi still puzzle over the Baymax box.

"{Yeah, you could say that,}" Rinchi confirmed that notion.

Kimiko's attention had shifted back to Kenochi, however. The work on this robot was more of a concern to her, because it had so much potential, and bot fighting was only just one of them. The tall Fujita in the light blue lotus printed kimono crossed her arms, wondering what was taking so long. Then she saw the frustrated man trying to work the sharp edge of his multi-purpose knife into one of the tight seams in the red case now, in his desperate attempt to gain access. There hadn't been any buttons or ports, or even switches, for him to open it. Kimiko shook her head. He clearly did not understand the number one directive of this robot. In a controlled matter, the elder Fujita picked up her closed fan and took a couple steps over to Yama's son.

"{Pay attention, fool!}" she snapped it sharply against the back of his head.

" _Yeow_!" he yelped in pain, angrily looking back at her. "{Why did you do that?!}"

Kimiko said nothing when she put a hand on her hip, her eyes locked on the red case now unfolding in front of them. He turned to see the large, white robot inflating as well. Poor Little Yama fell backwards slightly before rising to his feet to face the robot.

"Hello, I am Baymax. I heard a sound of distress... Oh, no," the robot's red armor started assembling from the case as soon as he recognized the bad situation.

"Now!" Kimiko barked her command for Kenochi to apply the EMP, in conjunction with her own psychokinesis to stop it from suiting up and alerting the others of its location. The billowy robot abruptly deflated when all of its systems were ceased, the armor collapsing back down. The vinyl hung loosely from the thin metal frame underneath.

Kimiko still felt she had the upper hand, because she had left a tracker on the boy before they left him. This time it was better hidden on his shoe, since he had apparently noticed the first one they planted. All of them were fully aware now that he had been taken to a nearby hospital, and has not left it yet. She still toyed with the idea to make sure Hiro really was still there.

"{Whatever it takes,}" the young gang leader's son shrugged in response. He briefly inspected the vinyl covering, lifting it up in places as he walked around the still form. If there was an access portal through the vinyl, he did not see one in plain view. Kenochi picked up his Leatherman knife off the floor, and cut open a slit in the front, below the head.

"Hey,  _hey_!" Kimiko snapped at him, realizing that may not be a good idea.

"{We don't need this flimsy stuff,}" he glared at her, clearly annoyed by the constant interruptions. "{I have something better in mind for the armor}."

 _"Whatevah,"_  Kimiko turned away with a huff.

The young man ripped the hole bigger, then peeled the rest of the white fabric-like covering off from the head and thin metal frame. The proportions looked terribly awkward in comparison to a human skeleton, but this was also of no concern. Neither were the different sets of actuators and pumps, nor the tightly aligned storage units with medicines and other like supplies. He and the tech-savvy Fujita instead focused their attentions on the bulky torso that housed the central processing unit and the information it contained. The CPU box also had a circular portal that was accessible, even from the outside. Kenochi saw a screw and stuck the screwdriver like tool of his Leatherman into the slot, and immediately felt a shock. Kimiko decided it was a charge from the battery. Except, if it was still under the effect of the EMP, how could that happen? Nonetheless, he tried to pry open the plastic port component next with the same tool. This time the shock was so strong, he dropped his tool with a few choice swear words when he jerked his hand back.

Maybe it was that type of tool he was using. She located a rubber-handled screwdriver and thunked him on head with it before giving that to him to use.

"{How many nerds does it takes to operate on a robot?}" Rinchi teased the two.

"{Let me know when you think percussive maintenance would be better,}" Mei told Kimiko, as she glanced briefly to her spiked mace ball.

Despite the upgrade in tools, Kenochi was still not able to turn any of the screws without stripping away at the metal. He stood up, muttering more obscenities as he stared at it in pensive thought. What kind of security measure did this thing possess?

The Fujita leader grabbed her satchel purse and pulled out her neurotransmitter device that looked more like a decorative hairpiece. She fitted on her head, situating the ends by her ears. This was something they had reverse engineered to boost her psionic abilities. How perfect of a device this was when used in conjunction with the robots. It still frustrated her she wasn't powerful enough on her own, but this helped smooth over that flaw. For now. Since an external tool could not crack this robot's case, maybe she could unlock it from the inside out.

"{Move over,}" she bluntly told Yama's son, pushing him aside as she knelt down to get close to the robot's CPU box sitting in the middle of the skeletal, titanium frame.

Kimiko probed mentally, finding the base of the screws and envisioned them turning out. Just when she started to turn them, a sudden flash of fire exploded in her mind.

"{No! Leave him  _alone_!}" a deep Japanese voice echoed in her head, while mentally blinding her with a bright light and pain at the same time. Kimiko yelped, ripping the neurotransmitter from her head and throwing it down.

"{What was  _that_?}" Mei wondered.

"{See, it's not just me!,}" Kenochi crossed his arms, not taking pity on her plight at all.

"{There's something guarding it from within}," Rinchi told them, flipping the eyepatch back over her eye.

" _Chikuso_!" Kimiko growled, picking up the neurotransmitter. Rinchi pretty much stated the obvious. She stared the dismantled robot, debating on what to try next.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After Aunt Cass helped him up the steps, slowly, Hiro had practically collapsed on the couch in the living room where he still slept at night. She fluffed his pillow, and spread out his quilted blanket over him in her attempt to make him feel more comfortable. The younger Hamada couldn't protest too much, because he knew she would leave him alone if he wanted to go back to sleep.

But sleep didn't come this time. While it was all he could do at the hospital, being back home somehow made him more restless. The constant aches all over and the nagging worry about Baymax made it, sleep, harder to come. All he could think about were ways to contact his robot guardian, and in a way that would not leave a trace. Because his aunt did have a point about what those gangsters could do to them, if they knew where he lived.

Not unless he did something to stop them.

But… it took a minute more of convincing his aching body to move. He finally sat up, squinting from a surge of throbbing in his head that subsided after a couple seconds. Maybe giving Aunt Cass the slip by spitting out the pills the nurse offered him earlier was not such a good idea. Everything all over was not feeling so swell.

But he really needed to find his brother's old tablet, which was upstairs. Up the stairs. Why must there be so many stairs? His head hurt from lots of motion, he felt nauseous again, and his legs felt like rubber.

He absolutely did not have the choice this time though.

Five minutes later, Hiro sat on the corner of his cluttered bed in the darkened room, flipping through app screens on Tadashi's iPad in search of anything, like even a healthcare app that was connected to Baymax. Nothing yet.

An alert popped up with a blip on the tablet's screen, warning him there was only 5% left on the battery. Yep, he had no choice but to go back downstairs and find a charging cable for it. Back  _down_  the stairs, where each footfall made his head hurt. Ugh.

Unless there was another cable up here somewhere.

Taking a moment to think, Hiro rubbed his sore neck and sighed. He had that nagging worry anyway that he should get back to the couch before Aunt Cass came back and wondered where he went. His room was still an utter mess too, with no reason for him to be there, so back down he had to go. And to think he actually fancied the idea of sneaking out to physically look for Baymax.

"Where are you, buddy…?" Hiro muttered absent-mindedly, rising up to head back down the stairs, very slowly.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The Lucky Cat café was not yet open for business, and it looked lonely in the gloom of the chilly, overcast day. GoGo still noticed a couple of lamp lights illuminating the back counter with a warm glow. Someone could be in the back somewhere, she hoped, so she didn't have to try the back door. The speedster leaned her bike against the post in the front, with the intent to stay just long enough to pick up the nerd's ID card. Except the front door was locked, of course. GoGo knocked loudly on the glass, hoping that she would be heard.

The petite college student crossed her arms in wait , before knocking again. After a few more seconds, she slid off her heavy backpack to pull out her phone and make a call, before resorting to the back door. Hiro had texted her an hour ago that he was home from the doctors, so they had to be here.

Before she hit the speed dial, movement caught her eye. Aunt Cass had stepped out from the back, finally hearing her at the door.

"Oh gosh! Have you been here long?" the hurried woman greeted her after hastily unlocking the door. Her perplexed stance must have given Gogo's slightly annoyed attitude away.

"Not really," GoGo politely disregarded her concerns as she stepped inside.

"I take it Hiro asked you to help him with schoolwork?" she asked, somewhat hesitant now.

"Yeah. I came to pick up Hiro's ID card so I can get some things from his lab," GoGo followed the brunette back to the better lit part if the café. The dining area looked like it was ready to go now, with the tables and chairs all set and in position. The new glass counters and wooden shelving were also gleaming and ready to be filled with product once more.

"I offered to stop by the lab earlier, but he said he didn't need anything," Aunt Cass had paused by the back counter, looking a little bewildered by Hiro's previous attitude.

"Probably changed his mind," GoGo decidedly went along with her concern. She could only imagine there was something there Hiro didn't want Aunt Cass to see. But not really in an effort to change the subject, the Korean slipped her backpack off and set it on the floor to pull out a well wrapped, gallon-sized bag of frozen half-moon shaped dumplings. "For you. My family sent me home with tons of these. So, I share."

Aunt Cass face brightened ever so slightly, as she accepted the bag. "Wow… thank you!"

"They are called mandu, all hand-made.. with meats and veggies. You can steam them, or make a soup for Hiro," she explained. "Is he feeling any better?"

Aunt Cass frowned, shaking her head. "He still doesn't want to eat anything, even though the dizziness from the concussion has subsided."

" … Concussion?" GoGo's eyes widened, making sure she heard that right. "He told me he had a stomach bug!"

"Hiro had that too, but…. he did not tell you.. that he was mugged in the subway?" Aunt Cass sounded ever more apologetic when she saw the anger boiling up on Gogo's face.

"Apparently  _not_!" she ran through the details she knew from the last exchange of texts she got from him. Was this that last part he was not being very open about? Her temper was flaring, and she wasn't going to hold it back. "When did he get  _mugged_?!"

"Last night," Aunt Cass took one step closer, pausing as if to chose the rest of her words. "I was just as shocked to find that Fred had taken him to the hospital."

"What was he doing with  _Fred_?!"

"Fred was who he called to take him there… not  _me_ ," Aunt Cass was also becoming visibly upset again by how it all happened. "I have no idea why Baymax wasn't with him!"

Feeling her blood pressure rising, the speedster stepped away before this turned into a shouting match. She was not sure who to blame first about this either. Why did Hiro just call Fred, and not the whole team? How come he didn't want to call her and tell her what really happened? How was that so hard to do?

"Who did it? How badly hurt is he?" GoGo asked, her eyes intense when she looked back to Aunt Cass.

"He's not sure. I called the police to look for the gangsters who attacked—"

"Where is he?" GoGo cut her off to find him herself, to see how bad he really was. She decided he really did know, he just didn't want to tell Aunt Cass. Without waiting, GoGo went past Hiro's aunt to the door in the back that led upstairs.

"He's asleep right now," Aunt Cass followed closely behind her, more worried about her state of mind.

"Right," GoGo muttered, making her own personal bet to see if Hiro really was. She was leaping up the stairs by twos until she got to the main floor. Her eyes spotted the couch in the dark room, heaped with blankets and pillows. A bucket sat next to the couch, with at box of tissues on the floor, among other things.

One arm had sandwiched a pillow against his head, so she grabbed a blanket and whipped them aside. The teen was curled up on his side, wearing his old, navy, zip-up hoodie, and had visibly shrunk himself in when the blanket was removed. His right arm with a dark blue cast clutched a black iPad to his chest, otherwise reaffirming her hunch he was faking it that he was asleep.

"Talk to me, Hiro!" GoGo tugged the pillow away from his head. His hand promptly covered his especially disheveled black hair as if to protect himself from harm.

Aunt Cass approached also, kneeling down to put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, sweetie. She just has some questions. Can you talk?"

Hiro squinted, sliding his arm down and slowly sat up. He set the tablet next to him on the couch to stretch gingerly. The younger Hamada was a piece of work, with a black eye, a fat lip, some small cuts on his face, other injuries to his hands, and the hard-to-miss broken arm in a cast.

Aunt Cass made some comment that he should be keeping the ice packs on his face and on his cracked ribs to keep the swelling down. She then picked up a pack that was neglected on the floor and headed over to the kitchen to replace the ice.

 _Dammit, what did he get himself into?_ GoGo sat on the coffee table in front of the couch to face him. His bangs were a little sweaty and sticking on his pale forehead. "What. Happened?"

Hiro swallowed, trying to keep eye contact with her, but he kept shying away. The anger evident on her face must have been that scary. "The Fujita…"

He looked sidelong to check where his aunt was, before continuing. She knew what that look meant, since his voice was barely audible, "They stole Baymax."

GoGo's eye twitched as a result, trying to keep her cool. That greatly explained his initial request to bring back Mega-Z. " _How_?"

"Just.. I was just going home, using the subway last night," he whispered, and then pinched his brow while closing his eyes.

"Was that because you were out  _looking_  for them?"

"No.. that would be  _suicide_ …" he opened his eyes to try to look at her again. "I fell asleep.. and I didn't wake up again until I was downtown."

_And they somehow spotted you. How.. unfortunate._

She reached up and held his ashen face between her hands so that he had no choice but to keep his eyes on her, or else she would put him into a painful headlock. "Be honest with me."

"I'm dead serious…" he whispered. She could see how unsteady his eyes were, showing more of the pain from having to stay open and focused for so long. His hair had that souring smell and a noticeable metallic scent from dried blood. The poor kid hadn't taken a shower yet since the attack. His skin also felt really hot to the touch, the longer she held his face.

"I really.. need you, right now," he added while holding his eye contact with hers as much as possible.

"Then why did you call Fred  _first_?" That request triggered her temper immediately and she dropped her hands from his face.

"I.. I couldn't remember your number," he pleaded.

GoGo didn't know what to say in response. Because if he really did need her help, then he could have at least let Fred tell her what had happened. How was waiting almost half a day later supposed to be better?! GoGo thought she had gained more of his trust after that one evening in his lab with her. But if the little genius was trying to mess with her feelings again, he was doing a damn good job.

"Are you taking anything?" she touched his forehead briefly again, to check his temperature. He really did not look so good, the longer she studied his expression. That just made it hard for her to stay mad at him.

Hiro just closed his eyes, mouthing the word 'no'.

"Why?"

He didn't answer, and kept his eyes shut. Well, from what she gathered from his past conversations, the boy was anything but a good patient about these things. Aunt Cass approached them again with a fresh ice pack and an insulated cup with ice water.

"He's gotta fever," GoGo turned to tell his aunt while she was there. Partially out of necessity, but also in hopes of keeping her out of earshot in case there was anything else Hiro needed to tell her, in person.

"Hmm, it's not really time yet," she sounded a little taken aback, after looking at a wall clock.

"Unless he didn't  _swallow_  it," GoGo decided to tell her.

Hiro grimaced, not happy that she told. But this truth was important for Aunt Cass to know because he only had one brain.

Aunt Cass sighed, realizing that possibility. "Let me check what the doctors notes said again," the brunette headed over to the kitchen counter to retrieve his prescriptions.

The younger Hamada sat back into the blankets on the couch, crossing his arms as if in protest. GoGo grabbed him by the front if his shirt to pull him close to her again. With Baymax out of commission, someone's going to have to step up. "We're not done yet, nerd."

Hiro's apprehension subsided a little after she took his face into her hands again. With fingertips spread into his hair, her thumbs pressed into his temples to massage there in small circular motions. "Relax… just let me know if I'm on something that hurts," GoGo did not see any bruising or cuts at his temples, but she told him anyway.

"What are you—" he asked, regardless.

"Helping to ease your pain."

"But I have a  _concussion_."

"This works for that too, so chillax!" Sometimes Mr. Know It All wasn't so much. GoGo just knew from what she had learned from her foster mom that massage did so much to reduce anxiety, swelling, and improve circulation. One can do so much with pressure points, especially since the boy had become leery about popping pills.

She gradually massaged down along his jawline, being mindful of any tender spots. His subtle wincing let her know if she did come across to something to avoid. Aunt Cass came back over with a couple prescription bottles in hand, only to pause and smile at the sight.

"This helps with tension," was all that she told his aunt. GoGo finished the temple massage and moved over to sit next to Hiro on the couch. She then gestured for him to turn his back to her. "So I can massage your neck and shoulders."

"Is it helping?" Aunt Cass asked, kneeling down in front of Hiro to check on him.

"Not sure.. yet," Hiro scrunched his face in response to having his tight and sore neck muscles kneaded.

"That's cuz you're a tight mess," GoGo told them.

His aunt proceeded to explain the prescription bottles to him; an assortment of antibiotics, steroids to reduce swelling, and extra strength ibuprofen, since the prescription painkiller did not agree with him. She then persuaded him to take the ibuprofen and the antibiotics, since the steroid was a liquid and had taken a safe guess he took that earlier.

"Swallow them," GoGo leaned in to tell Hiro. Her gentle massaging was replaced with a firm grip at his shoulders, as she was also in position to wrest him into some kind of painful lock if he didn't mind his aunt's wishes.

"Nope. Keep drinking, sweetie," Aunt Cass gave the hospital thermos of ice water back to him after he tried to hand it off. "GoGo, will you be staying for dinner, or are you heading back to the lab first?"

"Thank you for the offer, Aunt Cass," she paused to look at her, "But I need to get back to SFIT to get some things. Not sure how long that would take."

GoGo heard Hiro let out a sigh, most likely from frustration. She now worked her way down the muscles on each side of his spine, stopping at intervals to massage that area with her knuckles.

Aunt Cass put a hand on Hiro's arm to show her support before standing up to head back to the kitchen.

"Where's your ID card?" GoGo asked him next.

Hiro was silent for a beat before swearing under his breath. "They stole my backpack too…"

"They have your ID card?" GoGo repeated a little too loudly. Loosing Baymax was one thing, but also having access to the labs…? He would have to call the school get that card cancelled right away instead.

"Oh, wait!" Aunt Cass had heard GoGo and stopped washing the uncooked rice in the cooker pot to look at them. "I saw your badge in with the clothes the hospital gave me."

Both Hiro and GoGo regarded her like she was Wonder Woman at that moment. Maybe he still had it on, tucked away somewhere that the gangsters did not notice. This made it apparent to GoGo that Hiro really did have trouble remembering some things due to his injuries.

Aunt Cass walked over to a couple of hooks on the wall between the kitchen and stairway that held an assortment of keys and other things to get the badge hanging on a grey SFIT lanyard.

"You're awesome," GoGo accepted it, wrapping the lanyard around the card, before tucking it safely in an inside pocket of her jacket.

"It's what I have to do to keep the sanity around here," she shrugged, going back to the kitchen.

Time was getting away from her, GoGo noticed, and decided to get going. Enough time had already been wasted, and she wasn't going to let anymore of it get away. She had to tell the others too, regardless of what Hiro wanted. This was serious.

Before standing up, she faced Hiro and gripped his shoulders. "Take it easy, okay? We'll talk more when I get back."

Hiro nodded quietly, and then moved in to hug her real quick to show his gratitude.

"Eat something too," she leveled with him, pulling away to look him in the eye.

"I'll try."

"Or else," GoGo added, being very serious as she picked up the ice bag and put it on the right side of his face. Hiro complied by holding it in place with his hand.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Rinchi stood in a dark alley across the street from the Lucky Cat Café. Her spot was on the road that ran perpendicular to the steep hill that the old Victorian house sat. The lone Fujita was sent to stake-out the location of the tracker when Kimiko had noticed it left the hospital. Rinchi was told to check for any suspicious activity, or if the tracker moved from that location. Even though the café was not open, she still noticed lights on inside and what had appeared to be a bicycle messenger stopping by the front door.

The Fujita almost looked like another discarded cardboard box sitting by a recycle bin sitting in that alley, as to not attract any attention from anyone passing through. The camera she held in side the box recorded what she saw. Or at least things she saw in this plane of reality.

The hours of sitting in the cold, in a cramped position had finally paid off for her when she saw the short Korean girl step out from the door. But before leaving on her bike, she had pulled out her phone to call someone. Not all of the conversation was clearly heard, but she could tell the woman was angry. The words that Rinchi heard were enough. The boy was there and had told her what happened.

Rinchi smiled, it was as expected. Their robot will be ready by the time Big Hero 6 comes looking for him.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a warning, this chapter will have some thoughts about depression / suicide.

 

* * *

Still in complete disbelief, GoGo swore under her breath again when she reached the IT Labs. More and more lately, she had felt like the second one in command, and right now, all she could think about were ideas on what to do next. This game of cat and mouse had to end. She was done with the waiting.

GoGo was in so much of a rush, she hopped back on her bike inside the hallway to get to her lab station faster. After leaning the bike against her workstation, the speedster slung off her backpack to look for Hiro's ID badge in her bag. A few more colorful words were uttered when she remembered it was in her jacket.

All this was enough for Wasabi, who was in the adjacent workstation, to look up from his laptop when she stormed by.

"Hey, what happened?" he called after the engineering student, clearly noticing something wasn't right.

She didn't stop to talk on her way to Hiro's lab. There wasn't time to explain, and if Hiro did not want to bother telling any of them, why should she?

"GoGo.. hey!" the physicist put aside his headphones to follow after her through the hallway and up through the stair well.

_Great… now Wasabi. Why does it have to be Wasabi..._

"Someone stole Baymax," she told him briskly, swiping the card.

Wasabi swore while following her inside. "Is Hiro okay?"

GoGo looked over to him for a second before answering. "No. He got beat up."

"Damn…" Wasabi pressed a hand to his forehead. "I warned him to be more careful with Baymax, for that reason."

"Well, I guess that didn't phase him any…" she responded curtly. GoGo paused a moment, looking over the cluttered lab until she spotted a specific metal block over by the worktable. Mega-Z. She also searched for another thing, but didn't see it anywhere. The shorter student knitted her brows and crossed her arms as she confirmed her suspicions.

_So when was the little nerd going to tell me my laptop was also stolen?_

"How did it happen?" he asked her next, seemingly becoming evermore distressed.

Whether it was just the news alone upsetting him, or that along with the disorganized state of Hiro's lab, she assumed either way. Hiro completely did not have that sense of organization that Tadashi had. Plus this was the first time in a long time Wasabi was inside this lab after Hiro started.

GoGo finally sighed, wondering how many different times she was going to have to explain what Hiro failed to not? Purposefully not answering, she picked up a tool from the table that looked like what was on his additional list of items that he texted to her.

"Did this just happen?" Wasabi asked again in a different way, trying to grab her attention.

"No… it happened  _last_  night," GoGo turned, shaking the ratchet at him. "Hiro had been in the hospital all this time, and he didn't bother to tell me that until I met him at his place.. an  _hour_  ago!"

"What?"

"Yeah," GoGo crossed her arms again as she nodded. "He only called Fred, and then convinced him not to tell us."

"Why? This is serious!"

"That's what makes me wonder what really happened!" she stood up, throwing her hands in the air.

"What did they tell you?" his eyes were intently fixed on her in his attempt to make sense of this, now that she was talking more.

"Hiro claimed he fell asleep on the subway, and didn't wake up until he was downtown. While waiting for the train back, they jumped him on the platform," she explained, pacing a few steps as she did.

"And Baymax was with him? How come he wasn't able to stop them?"

"He said he was in case-mode, and then something kept him from activating."

"And somehow, they just so  _happened_  to know he was there..?" Wasabi was just relentless with the questions. "Didn't we have a tracker on them? Who was watching that?"

GoGo faced him, trying to not also get mad about the fact that no one actively kept tabs on the tracker, let alone talk to each other about it. She couldn't even go away for a weekend without everything going to hell. "Hiro and Fred. Fred mostly, with his Dad's tech. Except he  _forgot_  to check up on it after Saturday!"

Wasabi groaned, starting to see why she was so short of being livid.

"What gets me… is that Fred claimed that Hiro wasn't tagged last night. Unless, Baymax was...?"

"He does have cell phone tech," Wasabi mentioned, which was a valid point. That could be traced regardless.

"I still can't believe Hiro didn't tell us right away," GoGo huffed, ending her thought in such a way as to indicate she was done with that conversation. She found a small discarded box by the trashcan to put more tools in and set it on the table. Something about that had bothered her a little, reminding her of when they had to pack up Tadashi's belongings.

"How bad  _did_  he get hurt?" the big guy stepped closer, his tone softer.

GoGo just shook her head, not really in the mood to answer that. She tried to distract herself with the task at hand, but it didn't help. Just thinking again about Hiro looking so hurt and afraid, it angered her in a way she could not explain. Nor could she believe that Hiro actually got out of the hospital already. Their young leader simply looked horrible, and it scared her to imagine it could have been worse. He could have been killed.

The speedster looked up to see that Wasabi was watching her more closely. She couldn't hide it anymore, she felt on edge and he saw right through her façade. The physicist sensed how worried she was about Hiro, even though she never openly admitted that to him. He just knew that it's not good for the team in the long run if she kept storming around mad.

"Hey.. Soomin, I'm sure Hiro's going to be okay," he put a hand on her shoulder. Those words were a given... of course Hiro will be okay. In time. But it was the way it happened that wasn't fair. This was the last thing the younger Hamada needed after everything else that had happened to him.

"I know. It's just.. Hiro's out of commission.. too," she breathed, lifting up her eyes to meet his soft brown ones. For some damn reason, Wasabi's reassuring proximity like this was causing her emotions to choke her up.

"We'll figure this out,  _kanojo_ ," he moved in and wrapped his strong, comforting arms around her body. Her mind just wanted to give in totally to him, but her heart still resisted. There's no going back to this, with Wasabi. Gogo's heart ached too much for Hiro now, even if he was still only a boy who couldn't provide this same kind of safety and strength.

 _Just.. stop it. Dammit. Stop._ Her eyes did not listen at all and welled up with tears that rolled down her cheeks. GoGo clenched her jaw, doing all she can to keep from crying more. Angry tears, that's what they were.

"If Hiro asked you to take his project home, I can help," Wasabi pulled away to tell her, only to notice her tears. He gently wiped them away with his thumb while cupping her cheek. The warmth from his hands on her face reassured her, she hated to admit. "I don't feel comfortable with you going back out,  _alone_ , with his tech."

GoGo couldn't say anything now, not without her voice wavering. What if she did go alone? What if she wanted them to pursue after her so she could give them what they deserved. Running and hiding from  _them_  was not her style. She can't let them believe that they had the upper hand.

"Plus.. I helped Hiro clean up his garage on Saturday," he smiled a little now, as if that was going to get her to cheer up. He was wrong, even if that meant one less thing to worry about.

GoGo sniffed back, drawing in a breath, and turned around to look for the rest of the items that Hiro needed. It was then it occurred to her that Wasabi had not seen Hiro's new robot either.

"Is this it? " he was now looking at the steel colored case, then walked over to study it closer.

She thought about being sarcastic, but nothing particular came to mind. So GoGo just nodded in agreement.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The surroundings in this plane of existence was void of color, warmth, and natural sunlight. Everything was like as it had been from his own world, but much emptier. The best way he could describe it, if he had to, was that it felt like going into the Titanic after it had been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for decades. The only way he could feel something that had life and color was when he was close to a living being in the other realm, the living world he once knew.

Scientifically speaking, Tadashi did not consider himself to be dead. However, his own form was not physically real either. He could see his body, but he could not actually feel it. His t-shirt and jeans were threadbare now, but he wasn't cold nor could he feel injury or hunger. He just felt numb. The one thing that did ache was his heart, the mental agony of watching his little brother and aunt deal with his absence, by themselves. Any time he tried to reach out to them for comfort, he could not. They were just wisps of air in his hands... echoes of a dream quickly forgotten.

Because of this, the elder Hamada felt like he had died and gone to hell, his crimes unjustified. He had not been able to find a way back out from whatever forsaken prison this place had become. While it seemed like a good idea at the time to save himself from the fiery inferno, he so much regretted jumping through that portal to escape the burning convention hall now. Dying really would have been a better option. Death had resolute, it would bring peace to his conscience. And because that was how they believed him to be. But in this place, he could not find even Death.

His existence was agony, because he also had discovered that if he let his raw emotions and anger take over, he literally found himself ablaze in flames. But no matter how hot they raged, the insatiable fire never consumed him. The only answer he could even fathom for this, was that when he went through the portal, the fire, or  _something_  experimental from the explosion, had fused with the molecules of his body when he rematerialized on the other side. But it all made no sense, really.

In the time he had, he discovered a lot of things in his efforts to try to reach out to his small family. Hiro was his main concern, and found he could influence his little brother's dreams. Kind of… sometimes getting the right message across was very hard to do, because of how imaginative Hiro was. Then if the boy actually stopped his incessant downward spiral of moping and fretting for a flipping moment, and just stopped to actually listen. Just breathed, and waited, then Tadashi's words of reassurance could make sense.

The day Tadashi figured out that he had better luck in manipulating things psionically, especially the circuits in Baymax, his spirits were lifted by a thousand percent. Hiro had actually latched on to the robot almost immediately and began to live more normally again. The elder Hamada had let Baymax operate on his protocols for the most part, because it took a lot of energy to completely override everything all the time. Tadashi only took over when he felt that he really had to.

Of course, the events that happened as a result were above and beyond anything he would have ever guessed. The superhero idea was something he would have never guessed happening, but everything that Callaghan had done needed to be stopped in some way. In turn, he became fully supportive of wanting Hiro and his friends to apprehend him, and set things right.

Tadashi also understood why Callaghan had made Hiro so upset. They never saw it coming. Callaghan's insane selfishness angered him just as much! But he never wished for Hiro, any of them, to do something they would deeply regret later. He could not let that happen, ever.

Just like now.

How did he end up in this position, quite literally fighting for his life to protect Baymax all over again? The lengths he went to for his little brother really were beyond belief. And as much as he worried for Hiro, his robot was in worse danger. Baymax was not a robot that should fall into the wrong hands. This was  _exactly_  why he did not want Hiro getting involved with these gangs. The police even had trouble keeping those cunning criminal organizations in check, so what made Hiro think he could do better?

By themselves, Yama and his goons were marginally predictable. This new trio of women that Yama brought in, however, had changed his outlook. Two of the girls had sensed his presence in Baymax earlier, and gave him a sense of false hope when they paused their work on Baymax.

He should have known it was only a temporary break, and to make matters worse, the Fujita were trained in some kind of spiritual, other-worldly magic. They came back with a stronger, more organized approach. Even though he was a Black Belt in Karate, he had very little experience in knowing how to effectively block their psychic attacks.

"Give it up... I know you want to," Rinchi spoke seductively. Her lifeless left eye looked right through him, driving despair deeper into his soul. With a smile, her demonic power probed deeper to find his weakness, learning more about his situation, and then knew just what to say to break him. "{What do you have left, Hamada? Nothing! No one will  _ever_  find you, because they all believe you are  _dead_!}"

The menacing geisha laughed, darkly, as she squeezed her fist tighter to cut off more of his life energy. Tadashi buckled over, groaning in agony from the pain of his heart and soul feeling crushed.

"{There's no way back. You are never going to return to normal. Your mortal form is gone, and the others will no longer accept you!}"

He felt lost, and his vision blurred with the thoughts of desperation. He balled his fists and wanted the pain to stop. All he could do was press his forehead against the concrete and scream. If it would only stop, if not just for a minute.

"{There is a way out of this: I can give you your..  _Death_ , or I can save you from your  _prison_. Which is it?}" she asked in Japanese, her tone low and very tempting.

He collapsed to his side, the word 'Death' forming on his lips. Death sounded so tangible right now. He almost made the request. But.. If she was asking for him to become her pawn, that would never be an option. He would rather die than be a slave to a existence worse than this.

Taking this moment, Kimiko ordered Kenochi to help her break into Baymax's CPU while Rinchi had the entity distracted. "Open it while you can, now!"

Tadashi was vaguely aware of what was going on while she tortured him. He gripped his head before the pain exploded all over.

"{I will  _not_ … give— give you anything!}" he roared as he rose up, flames consuming his form. The one small hope he had left to hang onto was in knowing that Hiro knew he was not dead. He wasn't going to let them crush that. Not yet.

"Kimiko!" the witch barked, turning her back to shield from the flames. As sudden as his outburst was, his flames were tempered, suspended in the space between him and them. The other one was able to manipulate fire as well.

Her unfair interference enraged him, and the elder Hamada lashed out with more power in hope the intensity would reach past their mental shielding.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Maybe there's a God above  
All I've ever learned from love  
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you  
And it's not a cry that you hear at night  
It's not somebody who's seen the light  
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

_Lyrics by Jeff Cohen, updated by Jeff Buckley and Pentatonix_

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A soulful acapella Christmas carol wafted from her cell phone sitting on the counter of the café as Aunt Cass pulled another big plastic container from the pantry in the back. As commercialism dictates, the Christmas holiday officially started after Thanksgiving. But with everything else going on, she was behind on schedule. Under normal circumstances , this was her favorite time of year and she would go all out. This year, the holidays simply overwhelmed her with more burden, and it exhausted her to think about it. She still didn't have a solid plan on what to do for Christmas this year, especially for her small family. What did help ease her mind was in knowing that the decorations was all that she had left to do. The café was otherwise ready to open up for business. She just had to decide on either Thursday or Friday.

The tapping on the glass from up front caught the brunette's attention. GoGo was back, and Wasabi stood behind her holding a large steel-colored block.

Aunt Cass put on a fake smile before unlocking the door to greet them. After they had followed her back to the counter, she had mentioned that Hiro was over in the garage.

Wasabi had nodded, setting the steel case down on the floor. It was just that one, and not also the more familiar red medical case. Aunt Cass soon concluded that her faux attitude was not genuine enough, because he had taken her into a quick hug. "I'm so sorry to hear. How's he doing?" Wasabi asked openly, stepping back.

"A  _little_  better than earlier," she sighed and then shifted her gaze to GoGo. She had her suspicions about GoGo's relationship with Hiro, and the interaction that she saw between the two earlier confirmed it. Somehow, it intriqued her how Hiro had latched on to the sassy, tough-looking bicycle messenger. In the past, he preferred to keep to himself, and not bother much with social interactions with his classmates. Her next thought brought out more of a genuine smile when she spoke. "Hiro did eat one of your dumplings that was in the soup, after I told him you made them. He claimed he felt too sick to eat before I said anything."

"Good," GoGo nodded, but kept her neutral expression. She did appear much calmer than she had earlier after hearing about what had really happened. Aunt Cass imagined talking with the others helped GoGo refocus her perspective.

"Miss C, there's something else you should know," Wasabi spoke more sincerely, gesturing that maybe she should sit down by pulling out a chair.

"Oh... what is it? Is Fred okay?" her mind started to jump to conclusions as she sat down. Wasabi also took a seat, but GoGo just moved closer to the table.

"He's fine. It's just that Hiro didn't tell you the  _whole_  truth," she crossed her arms.

Aunt Cass sighed, somehow not surprised. Hiro had been doing that a lot again lately. Because of this, she went as far as parking her truck so the front was butted up right against the garage door to keep him from sneaking out through it. She doubted Hiro would go all the way upstairs to the patio, he was struggling with stairs right now. The patio door in his room also had been boarded up. Not because of Hiro, but that the frame was damaged from the earthquake and a panel had cracked glass. She decided to remove the door until the new door panels arrived.

Wasabi exchanged glances with GoGo, as if debating who would be next to say it. "Baymax was also stolen," the physicist admitted.

Aunt Cass pursed her lips, letting that news sink in. Again, this fact didn't surprise her as much as they might have thought it would. Hiro's strange behavior made her wonder what he was trying to hide. From not wanting her to go to the lab herself to get his project work, to being particular about not wanting her to call the others about what happened. Aunt Cass shook her head, feeling more disappointment. "I just wish he could confide in me."

"There's things he's not telling me either.. but then he says it's because he doesn't want us,  _you_ , to worry," GoGo finally sat down in another chair next to Aunt Cass, to be on the same level with her.

"Everything that he  _doesn't_  talk to me about makes worry," Aunt Cass furrowed her brow. The emotion suddenly hit, her eyes welling up with tears. Frustration. She did so well in trying to stay strong through this whole new ordeal, but all of a sudden now the reality finally sunk in. Baymax was also the last mutual connection to Tadashi that she had.

Wasabi stood up to go over to the condiment stand and grabbed some napkins for her. Most likely because he couldn't spot a box if tissue.

"I'm sorry.. this just hit me," she accepted a napkin from him and pressed them under her eyes to absorb the tears.

"It's okay," Wasabi shrugged, patting her shoulder. "Sometimes you need to."

"Hiro's struggling with a lot of anxiety, more than he let's on…" GoGo did her best to connect with her, now showing her rarely seen sympathy. "I'm sorry about what had happened too. I'll keep talking to him, so he can be more open with us."

She drew in a shaky breath, recollecting herself. "Thank you.. I've noticed he's having a hard time with his moods. He's a teenager, so that's normal.. I guess, but I still worry. Hiro keeps shutting me out when I suggest he should see a therapist about it."

"Yeah," GoGo just nodded. Just the way the mechanical engineer regarded her concern showed that she knew what she meant.

"He became very upset after a police offer came to his room earlier today to ask us a few questions," Aunt Cass balled up the napkin, sighing again.

"What did you tell the police?" GoGo wondered.

"That he was beat up, and stole his wallet and back pack. We stressed the theft of proprietary information, to emphasize the seriousness of this matter."

"That's usually a concern for employees who work at a big companies..." Wasabi threw in his two cents, sounding not very positive the police would take the case seriously.

"Since it was  _my_  laptop that was stolen, they better get busy in recovering it!" GoGo brought up, sounding a little defensive now.

"What? Why did Hiro have your laptop?" the bigger college student questioned her.

"His got broken in the earthquake, remember?" GoGo clarified to Wasabi, who now looked put-off by her explanation. "I let him borrow mine while I was out."

Aunt Cass bit her lip, a little surprised Hiro also didn't tell her he wasn't able to fix his laptop. She could have gotten him another through a Black Friday sale. But that was really the least of her concerns. She made up her mind and rose from the chair to get her phone.

"Who are you calling?" Wasabi soon noticed what she was doing after she stopped the music.

"The police, to report about Baymax."

She saw it again, another exchange of looks between the two college students. This time it almost felt like she did something they didn't expect.

"No, not yet," GoGo stood up to Aunt Cass's hand away from the phone. "You need to talk to Hiro about this first. Encourage him to tell you what he knows, to keep his trust."

Aunt Cass nodded, accepting her advice because it was wisdom she needed to hear **.** But she still worried for Hiro new friends. She just had that feeling they would do what any friend would do, and go out to look for Baymax for him. She had been figuring out more in how Hiro 'played games' with her. If he didn't tell her and the police about Baymax, then that would make it easier for the rest of his 'team' to look for the robot.

"There's just one thing. I gave Hiro the same warning: I don't want you to get involved, as superheroes, and look for Baymax," the brunette looked at both of the SFIT students, square in the eyes. "It's too dangerous! I know you think of yourselves as responsible young adults, but I think your families, who are  _also_  some distance away, would agree if they knew the danger you were in."

The more sensible physicist seemed to have a change in attitude, and nodded in agreement with her statement. "That's a valid point, Miss C. We hadn't really planned to."

The Hamada aunt still noticed a stifled look of dismay from GoGo. Rather than say anything in kind, she sighed.

"I'm going to check on Hiro," GoGo then stood up and thumbed in the direction of the door in the back of the café. It led to the partially repaired 'hole in the wall', going into the garage. All that was needed was the doorframe. She had decided that a direct access from the garage to the house would be helpful afterall.

:::::::::::::::::::

The red-orange flames whipped around him like a hot wind. At other times, two fire balls were visible, only to be snuffed out by waves of inky black darkness. Light mixed with the darkness, reminding him vaguely of a star nebula being consumed by a black hole. Voices started to fade in and out. A menacing female voice haunted him, startling him with resonating, sadistic laughter. It was in Japanese, then suddenly the blackness jabbed his eyes and he screamed in pain. He felt so paralyzed and confused by not even knowing what was going on. Something indescribable, something that hurt so bad. His head throbbed from new flashes of light and fire. The pain, he started crying for it to stop.

The voice changed now. Her voice sounded more calming, soothing. She chased away the inky black shadows, and the feeling of flames whipping around him became her arms holding him close. Her fingers were running through his sweaty hair.

"Wake up.. s' okay," GoGo whispered again, her hand going over his cheek. "You're safe, Hiro."

He was in  _GoGo's_  arms… not- the younger Hamada exhaled sharply, trying to think how that happened. His jaw clenched. At least she didn't sound angry this time. Hiro buried his face into his best friend's shoulder and squeezed her tighter, breathing in her familiar, comforting scent of spicy perfume and leather. GoGo was a reality that he didn't want to go away.

"..is he okay?" Wasabi's voice finally asked.

"Bad dream," GoGo simply explained, but he could sense something come over her because her arms tensed. It felt like she wanted to pull away.

He wondered if it was because Wasabi just came in too. Where did he come from anyway? Did GoGo tell the others while she was out? Either way, he also started to feel awkward if there were other people present. Hiro looked back up and wiped the wetness from his face with his hand. He still had a headache, all his miserable aches, but it wasn't like the pain he felt in his dream.

"M'okay…" the injured teen mumbled, his eye contact being shifty when Wasabi came closer to him. GoGo kept an arm around Hiro's shoulders as she sat next to him on his red, worn-out couch in the garage. He was bundled up in one of Tadashi's huge, maroon-colored, pull-over hoodies and full-length sweatpants, and had a fleece blanket tangled in between himself and GoGo. Dressing that warmly was the only way Aunt Cass would let him go into the chilly garage to work on stuff.

"The little man don't look very 'okay'. How are you really feeling?" Wasabi responded, with the slightest hint of mockery. The big guy rolled aside the electric radiant heater so he could sit on the large, wood crate-table in front of the couch.

So much for trying to be remotely positive then.

Hiro just shook his head and frowned, his mind still a little fuzzed about what was going on before all this. He gradually remembered he was looking at something on Tadashi's tablet, before dozing off.

"We brought back Mega-Z, and those other things you asked for," GoGo informed Hiro, her hand dropping down to rest around his waist instead.

"He's not Mega-Z... but, thanks," his eyes looked down at the crate-table, and he bit his lip in thought. Hiro glanced sidelong to GoGo. "Did you tell Honey Lemon, about me?"

"Yes," she responded firmly. "We're all in to help you with this."

"I'm grounded," he was looking at his hands again. "Aunt Cass even has all the doorways blocked."

"Who said you were going anywhere?"

Hiro made eye contact with the speedster, and then to Wasabi, who looked miffed. The teen worked his mouth, then sighed.

"But we still need someone to be our intel," Wasabi gripped Hiro's left shoulder for a second. He smiled, reassuring him of his role.

"He needs help—" Hiro breathed, then realized who he was talking to. He hadn't explained anything about that to her yet. "I.. I know where Baymax is." He picked up the tablet and then unlocked the passcode. The app was still up, and he held it out to show the map of downtown with a pulsing dot.

"Oooh, that's good!" Wasabi's eyes grew wide. "We need to call Fred and see if the location aligns with the gang."

GoGo nodded in agreement, also exchanging glances with them. The look she gave Wasabi seemed to be that of mixed confusion though. But she was the first to pull out her phone to give Fred a call.

"We can use my other robot," Hiro ran his hand through his hair as he thought more about how to do this. He felt really fortunate this time that he had kept the original chip from Tadashi in safekeeping. What was in Baymax now was a copy. He had learned his lesson this time. All the programming in both of his robots were backed up frequently and safe-guarded. Just how strong those safe-guards were, that was another test he would have to find out.

"Hey—" GoGo answered after Fred picked up, and then twisted her face. "Why do I need to apologize? I  _am_  calm now… look, Hiro has something he wants you to check on."

She handed the phone over to Hiro, apparently still not in the mood to talk to Fred. "Um, Hi."

"Hey, buddy. Feeling any better?"

"Better, but still a grade above roadkill," Hiro answered, staring down at the tablet. "Are you—"

"Whoa, no.. wait up," Wasabi snatched the phone from Hiro's hand. "We'll get back with you later," he briefly told Fred before ending the call, and then opened up the phone's settings.

"What are you doing?" GoGo glared at him, needing an explanation for this erratic behavior. Especially after he had just  _told_  them to call Fred.

"I just realized.. they could be tracing us with these now," Wasabi muttered, he was looking to turn off the GPS settings on it also.

"Ugh.. yeah," Hiro pressed his palm to his forehead, realizing Wasabi's concern. Sometimes the physicist's paranoia was a good thing. "If they have Baymax.. they have access to all of..  _our_  contact information."

GoGo flat out swore and stood up to show her alarm. She turned to face Hiro again. "You have a fire wall, or something like that on him, right?"

"Something like that, yeah," Hiro was really trying to think of everything in regards to this new threat. It was not good at all, the more he thought about. His stomach dropped and made him nauseous again just thinking of the shit load of trouble it would bring if they gained access to the healthcare robot's data. And if that went public, he would be so 'dead'. Now he really was thankful he didn't tell the police about his robot being stolen. "Baymax can get access to prescription drugs, painkillers.. even everyone's medical history, because of his connection with EMRs…"

GoGo swore again and walked away in disbelief.

 _"Can..._  he still has to  _get_  permission from the hopsitals and pharmacies though..." he echoed the sediment, resting his forehead on his hand and his elbow on his knee. Why was it hard to think about what to do next? All that he could think about was his panic setting in. Why had the gang taken Baymax instead of his new robot, the one that can fight? It had to be what else Baymax could get for them.

The younger Hamada really felt like he was going to throw up now.

"It sounds bad, but.. hey," Wasabi tried to reassess the situation for his sake. "We'll try to get to Baymax before they exploit that."

"So you were just faking—" GoGo started to ask Wasabi but stopped herself. She briefly glanced at Hiro before crossing her arms. Wasabi just raised one of his eyebrows, not getting her point. Hiro wasn't going to try to figure what that exchange was all about, however.

He collapsed back against the couch and swallowed back the sickening lump in his throat. His heart was pounding, fearing the worse. He really wished the nausea would go away so he could focus. The color must have drained from his face, because GoGo looked at him with more concern as well. She sat back down next to him, on his left side, putting a hand on top of his thigh.

"We should just go to Fred's to talk instead," GoGo told Wasabi. He nodded in agreement, even though his eyes shifted briefly to look at her hand.

Her hand was conveniently close to his, and Hiro suddenly had the desire to hold it. Just something to help shake his scared, sick feelings. He reached his hand over, closing it around hers, and held his breath to brace for any reaction. The teen remembered how Fred told him that there had been something going on between her and Wasabi. Her affection for Hiro was probably not going over well with the big guy now. But, for now, Hiro didn't really care about that... he just wanted feel to better so that he could rescue Baymax.

"Are you going to be okay here?" GoGo asked Hiro, her eyes searching him for honesty. She hadn't pulled her hand away from him, yet.

He exhaled, fixating his eyes on her soft brown ones.  _No…_

Her hand turned so that the warm skin of her palm was pressing against his palm. Her fingers tightened around his cold, bandaged hand and she sandwiched it with her other hand on top.

"I.. I'll work on him," Hiro finally whispered, nodding to the silver block. To Geronimo, Baymax's 'brother'.

"I'll try to not be long," GoGo told him, lifting their hands up between them and squeezed his tight. "But you  _got_  to tell Aunt Cass about Baymax. She needs to know."

"Why..?"

"Because you should. She's not your enemy, but part of our team," GoGo leveled with him.

"But then she'll tell the police!"

"That's something you'll have to discuss with her," her voice grew louder, releasing his hand completely now.

"I  _can't_  have the police know.. if this gets out on the news—" his voice was strained.

"I don't  _care_ … you need to be more  _honest_  with her! All of us, really!"

Hiro could tell she was getting upset with him about that detail again, and it was making him feel uneasy.

"Look genius… she just wants you to  _talk_  with her, okay?" she repeated herself to drive home her main point again. "Aunt Cass gets even more worried about you when you aren't  _real_  with her."

Hiro sighed audibly, rubbing his arm and looking away. "Fine…"

"Can we have Tadashi's tablet, with the location for Baymax?" Wasabi gently asked next. Hiro finally released it to him, understanding that they do need to take action now.

::::::::::::::::::::::::

The three teammates now sat on chairs in front of the large screen computer monitor in Fred's below ground bunker. It was confirmed that Baymax and the gang members were in close proximity. They decided once they came up with a plan, they would share it later with Hiro and Honey Lemon. It was discussed that when they took action, those two could be at Fred's, in this communications center, since it had tech to block anyone tracking their location and identity. Getting Hiro and Geronimo out of the house was one of many challenges.

"This is the part that really gets me," Fred spun around in his chair, grabbing some files his dad found for him. The moment he told his dad what had happened to Hiro, and why a car was taken off the premises, the old man had suddenly changed his tone and took action like never before. "So the Fujita..? They aren't your typical mobster arm candy."

GoGo did not hesitate to open one of the file folders to review what was inside of them.

"They have  _powers_. The one called Kimiko, she's psychic… she can move stuff with her mind like a Je—"

"You mean  _psionic_?" GoGo corrected him, after actually reading the correct term in the file. The difference being was that she could mentally control electronics and metals, specifically.

"Yeah, that," Fred nodded, his excitement mounting. "We are actually up against some  _real_  super villains now!"

"But wait… we saw one of them wearing something that looked like a neurotransmitter?" Wasabi wondered. "Why would she need that too?"

"To make her ability more powerful, and accurate?" Fred shrugged. "I've seen an instance of something like that from an early issue of Mutants."

"Yeah, she had controlled her robot with such alarming precision…"

"If she could mind-control Baymax, that was probably what kept him from activating when they cornered Hiro," Fred put in his educated guess.

GoGo snorted due to an entirely different reason, upon glancing through the next file. "'Demon Eye', is that really a  _thing_?"

"What does that do?" Wasabi asked again. He was starting to get a little nervous upon recognizing what they are going up against.

"If you look at it, it makes you go mental," GoGo roughly summed up that attribute. "So.. don't look at it."

"She can also see into your soul, and find your greatest fears and weaknesses!" Fred felt the need to expand on that for added effect. "Sounds pretty damning if you ask me."

"Right… thank you, Fred," GoGo sighed.

"At least the third one doesn't have anything 'super'.. yet. She's just really skilled with weapons and close-combat," the fan boy gestured to the files GoGo still held. She ended up giving them back to him.

"Did they always have those powers…?" GoGo muttered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Because I don't remember them being like that before."

"I think what's more important is deciding how we are going to infiltrate their location and get Bay max back."

"The fact we were still able to find him means at least he's still functional," GoGo added.

"Which is really kind of surprising, if you think about it," Wasabi sat back, rubbing his neck.

"Okay, so are we just going to bust in and grab?" Fred rubbed his hands together.

GoGo glared at Fred, "No. Too predictable."

"Are there any bot fights going on?" Wasabi wondered.

The others looked at him, a little surprised. "I thought we were going for something unpredictable?" Fred asked.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

After Wasabi dropped her off, GoGo walked to the side entrance of the café house. Aunt Cass let her in, and she explained briefly she was back to help Hiro with his project. The guardian allowed her to stay, reassuring she would only be there for a few hours.

GoGo stepped down the couple steps of the makeshift wooden stair case. It was quiet in the garage, and she soon learned why when she found Hiro asleep on the red couch again. He was wrapped up in a ball of blankets, his oversized hoodie pulled over his head, and still holding a pen and his journal notebook. At least this time, his face looked relaxed and at ease in his slumber. GoGo slowly, carefully pulled the items from his hands to set on the crate-table.

"Who are you?" a deep male voice asked, otherwise giving the speedster a good startle.

She spun on her heel, quickly settling her gaze on the tall steel robot standing motionless by a workbench along the wall. It wore a metal helmet that looked like that of a fire-fighter, but with a couple of short antenna on each side. The robot also had a metallic, human-like face, and his optics glowed faintly yellow, with blue centers. While there was a likeness of the nose, the mouth was just the shape of one. The lips didn't look like they could move when the robot spoke. The only thing she could think of was that Hiro had lived out his wildest dreams from all the giant robotic warrior shows he had watched.

"Who are you?" the steely robot asked her again, his optics faintly glowing brighter gold now. He remained motionless otherwise, both arms remaining at his side. They did not have anything that could be described as hands though. The legs were a combination of rollers for feet, and backwards knees.

"GoGo," she took a step closer, still studying the robot, "I'm Hiro's friend."

"Why are you here?" his voice sounded authoritative, like a high ranking officer.

GoGo narrowed her eyes for a beat before answering. Was he Hiro's new body guard, or something? "He asked for my help," she pointed back in Hiro's direction as she spoke.

"Where is your.. help?" he asked, optics pulsing. GoGo crossed her arms, looking at him in further consideration. She decided he was one circuit short of a full board.

"I. Am. The help." Maybe speaking slowly and clearly would work.

"No.. you are GoGo: Hiro's friend."

GoGo groaned, but heard Hiro moving now, behind her.

"It's okay.. I invited GoGo to be here," he called out to him.

Geronimo moved his head, acknowledging the young genius now.

"Sorry… still working on his ability to understand human speech patterns," he told GoGo as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"As long as he fights better than he thinks," GoGo sassed him.

"At ease, Ronin," Hiro looked at the soldier bot. His optics had dimmed in response to that statement.

"Ronin?"

"Nickname."

She just raised her eyebrows then shook her head. His robot's head did look like that of a samurai's, the more she thought about it. "How much more do you need to do?"

"Fine tuning," Hiro responded after a moment of hesitation. "Had to swap out the search and rescue components with the battle tech again."

"How likely will your Aunt let you go out for a dinner date tomorrow night?" GoGo dropped her voice to ask him, also keeping her face straight. She phrased the question that way on purpose.

"Dinner…  _date_?" Hiro echoed the two key words as he suddenly grew alarmed. "With..  _who_?"

"Me..." GoGo really did her best to not crack a smile. Fred was right. It was kind of amusing to see how flustered Hiro became at the bare mention of the word 'date'. "Aaand the others."

"Ye-yeah, of course," Hiro stammered, his eyes casting downward as if that would keep her from noticing the red flush on his cheeks. His voice was cracking too. "Why?"

She finally let her mirth come out, and put an arm around his neck to bring him closer. "We need a practical way to get you  _out_  of the house, genius," she whispered into his ear.

"Okay…right," he gulped, still feeling tense about her being so close. His eyes were darting between GoGo and the floor.

"Do you have anything nice to wear, as in suit and tie?" GoGo took a step back, but still left her hand on his shoulder.

"Ye-yeah… except.." the younger Hamada started, but his nervousness was replaced with something else. "I really don't want to wear.. that one."

GoGo mentally facepalmed herself for asking him in the way she did. She knew what he meant, in that his one suit had 'funeral' memories all over it now. "Don't worry… Honey and I will rent out a tux for you."

"That fancy?" Hiro looked up.

"Fred is asking his dad to make red-letter reservations at an upscale restaurant, so yeah… that fancy," Gogo nodded, then dropped her hand.

"Are we really…?" he whispered.

"Have to make it believable, and accountable," GoGo gestured for him to sit back down on the couch with her. She kept her voice especially low in case Aunt Cass might be nearby. "It's our starting point, then you will be going with Honey Lemon to a secret SHIELD base underground, near that restaurant."

"What? Not at.. Fred's house?"

"His dad is going to ask SHIELD to back us up, in case it gets out of control. Turns out the Fujita are also on their hit list."

"They have super powers?"

"Yup."

"What are you guys going to do?" his voice was barely audible.

"Going bot fighting."

"Seriously..?" Hiro didn't look thrilled with that idea. "With my robot? But you said—"

"It'll be a diversion," GoGo interrupted him. "While one of us are in the bot fight, Wasabi and Fred will look for Baymax. How easy is it for me to control.. him?"

Hiro looked back at Geronimo (or Ronin, or whatever they will register him as), then back to her, his voice straining. "That's the  _plan_?"

"That's the idea."

"What will I be doing? I can still help you with the bot fight," Hiro started to sound more worried.

"You're hurt, you got a concussion.. plus I noticed you're limping," GoGo denied his request.

"Limping? My legs are sore and stiff!"

"Are your knees and ankles okay?" her past experience from professionally controlled ring matches, to street fights, that stuff can take a number on the joints when taking on a lot of hard hits.

Hiro didn't respond with a lame excuse that time. "Aunt Cass asked them to x-ray my left knee. But there wasn't anything serious."

"Good. But we'll need someone to be our intel. Hacking into security systems.. details like that. We felt it'll be better for you to stay out of their sight," GoGo explained it that way for him.

"Okay..." the teen sighed. His dark eyes glanced down before he looked back up into hers. "Can.. can you give me another massage, like before?" he asked meekly.

GoGo sighed but smiled at him. She shifted so she was sitting more sideways next to Hiro. "Only if you agree to let us do the footwork tomorrow."

"..tomorrow?" he followed her gesture to face her.

"Yes,  _tomorrow_  night," her fingertips touched his face, checking to see how hot his skin felt. It was warm, but not hot like the first time she saw him.

"That's.. That's too late!" he whined. It was also when the botfight was.

_Because you're not okay now._

"Is your headache still bad?" GoGo used her question as another reason why they weren't acting right away. It was kinder that telling him the cold hard truth. She spread her fingers into his hair as she pressed her thumbs on his temples. Then she moved them in a circular motion with steady pressure.

He didn't say anything, but his eyes closed. The young genius still looked tired, and a little unsure about something.

"Just get more rest. We start on all this, first thing tomorrow, okay?" GoGo added. Truth be told, she was starting to feel beat herself. It was a long, stressful day at this point.

"You can stay here..." Hiro whispered, a bit suddenly, and then moved in to hug her.

His motion caused her to drop her hands so she could slide her arms around his shoulders. Gogo's thoughts were frozen on his almost innocent request for her to stay with him. It was so tempting, and sounded better, safer than her other option. She had no desire right now to go out into the cold, wet night and risk getting jumped on her bike ride home.

And he wasn't letting go of her either. She ran her hand through his thick hair, noticing his musky smell again from not showering in awhile. "If that's okay with your aunt."

The boy genius adjusted himself to be more comfortable against her, leaning into the back of the couch. "Don't worry… "

She understood, and finally gave in to his irresistible idea. Hiro seriously wanted her to stay right there, with him. "I'll stay… get some more sleep."

GoGo tugged at the blankets and pulled them up around him. She also nestled herself against the armrest of the couch with Hiro in her arms.

"Thank you…" he breathed softly, careful to keep his uninjured hand on her side and away from where she would end up dropping him on the floor in a heap.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadashi's realm is like a spiritual astral plane with an alternate likeness to the real world. Don't expect anything to make logical sense though, because I'm not basing this on anything that already exists. (Like a soul trapped on earth, unable to get to heaven due to unfinished business).
> 
> Things will start getting 'fun' from this point. ;D


	17. Chapter 17

 

" _The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire." – Ferdinand Foch_

* * *

GoGo accepted her decision to stay with Hiro on the small, red couch, and eventually fell asleep with him curled up beside her, in her arms. In all honesty, being that way was more comforting than it was comfortable. She stirred awake a few times during the night, more to help him ride through his troubled sleep. Hiro's slurred, panicked words and tightening of his fists pulling at her shirt would alert her. His attack must've traumatized him after all, and started to surface in this way. She did wonder as well if he had been affected by that one Fujita's Demon Eye. His actions since then had seemed more anxious and unsure of himself.

She pushed back his sweat-damp hair and whispered soothing words to calm him back to sleep. Hiro repositioned his head on her chest, keeping his eyes shut despite his clenched teeth. Her arms continued to hold him, even though sometimes he resisted, to remind him he was safe. GoGo pulled up on the blanket to cover both of them and stroked his tousled hair until they dozed off again.

The mechanical engineer woke up again when Aunt Cass touched her shoulder. She could only tell it was sometime either really late at night, or very early in the morning, as his aunt still had on an oversized, fleece robe covering her pajamas. Her expression was of surprise that GoGo was still there, but she had offered a better place for them to sleep upstairs.

GoGo declined as politely as possible, despite her groggy state. Partly because that meant fully waking enough to get up, and then later neither one if them would be able to go back to sleep afterwards. Hiro hadn't bothered to wake up this time despite their talking. Aunt Cass sighed, not sounding happy about leaving them there in the chilly garage. But hey, they were warm, had all their clothes on, and otherwise not doing anything else that should worry her. The older woman returned shortly after with another blanket and pillow in an effort to make their situation possibly more comfortable.

Hiro looked so blithely innocent when he had been able to sleep in peace. His face was relaxed, and his free left hand was tucked close to his face. That gesture made her wonder if he used to be a thumb-sucker, and she suddenly felt for him and his trying childhood. Her heart ached briefly with guilt. Hiro was still so young and yet she had fallen for him so hard.

::::::::::::::::::::::

When Hiro woke up, 'fully aware of his surroundings' kind of 'wake up', he was just.. amazed. The reality that GoGo actually stayed and  _slept_  in the cramped little couch  _with_  him, for the entire night, was still hard to believe. But it happened, it  _really_  happened. He couldn't think of the last time he slept that long, without much interruption either.

The feint, cold blue-hue of the winter morning light came through the little windows up high in the garage. GoGo's arms held him in place, and the warmth of the blankets around them guarded him from the chill of the cool air in the garage. Hiro yawned quietly, unable to go back to sleep, and wondered what time it was. He had noticed then he had his own comforter from his bed around them too.

Hiro glanced up, seeing that GoGo was still sound asleep. Her heartbeat was steady, and her breathing even as she slept. Even though his cheek had practically been against her left breast, he had been mindful of where his free left hand rested on her body. Right now it was tucked against himself, under his chin, but then he had a partial, fuzzy recollection of her taking his hand into hers a few times during the night. Maybe his hand was wandering, or maybe she really was trying to comfort him during his dreams. He started to remember fragments of how she ran her fingers over his face and through his hair too, and smiled slightly.

The younger Hamada closed his eyes again. Despite the reassuring feelings, he was becoming more aware of his aches. His broken arm still felt weird. His cast was tucked between GoGo's armpit and the crack of the couch cushion. A part of him wanted to move, to stretch it out, but he knew doing that would not make the dull ache go away. His arm was broken, as well as asleep.

At least his thoughts came to him more easily. Already he had gotten a great idea about what to do with Ronin. The idea was so obvious, and yet not something he had done with his bot-fight robots before. What he thought of was to equip Ronin with all the weapon techniques and fighting skills his teammates possessed. It was their combined strengths together as a team that made them so much stronger as Big Hero 6.

Because one chopstick alone could easily be broken, like himself.

Hiro sighed, again wishing he could stretch out his curled up, stiff body. He also felt that ever increasingly, hard-to-ignore need to pee. That just started to worry him because her leg was sandwiched in between his legs. As a result, Hiro became afraid that Gogo would feel his morning wood, and assume that for 'something else'. Well, he had gotten like that sometimes when he thought about her body, naked. But at  _other_  times. Just not now.

Hiro's heart started to beat a little faster, and he realized it must have been 'those thoughts'. He drew in another shallow breath, trying to think how he could get out without waking up GoGo.

Then some noises echoed from the hall of his house through the Baymax-sized 'door' into the garage. It sounded like Aunt Cass was up too.

He really needed to get up from all this. Like now.

Except he realized that trying to get out meant touching GoGo in all those places he shouldn't, otherwise meriting a swift kick to the head. Maybe it would be better if she got up first. Most definitely.

"GoGo, hey..." Hiro finally whispered, then reached up with his left hand to pat her cheek. Risky move, but possibly more effective that shaking her shoulder.

She scrunched up her face, coming to. "Mhh.. s' kay…"

"It's morning," Hiro tried to shift himself up a little just so he could see her better.

"Yeah…" she was half-lidded while looking down to him, but sounded more awake. "Feeling better?"

"Kind of—"

"Hey, good morning!" Aunt Cass had then came in to greet them brightly. "Did you two manage to sleep okay?"

The reaction that himself and GoGo returned was not nearly as chipper, and certainly more startled. Hiro still kept the comforter pulled up around both of them as he peered out.

"I'll make some breakfast for you two, okay?" she nodded, turning on the radiant space heater near them. She must have turned it off earlier for safety reasons, or something. Which could explain why it was so cold.

"Oh, when's your first class, GoGo? It's a quarter past seven in the morning," Aunt Cass asked next, before locating a large Rubbermaid container that he knew held some small Christmas trees in it.

"Ah, I'm okay. I don't need to be there until eleven… thank you, Ms. Cass," GoGo sat up more so, just to show her respects to Hiro's oddly cheerful aunt.

Yes, it was also Wednesday. Hiro froze for a moment just to remember that much. His early morning English Lit class wasn't until tomorrow.

"I'll get some extra towels out if you need a shower too," she mentioned to GoGo, on her way back out. Hiro also became more aware of Christmas music wafting in from the Café's radio system.

_Christmas stuff already? Yey… not._

"I think that was a  _hint_ ," GoGo poked at Hiro, who was still wedged in between her and the back of the couch.

He just frowned, trying to peel away the tangle blankets as he processed everything that just happened. Frag, it was still too cold for him to want to get up.

"When was the last time you took a shower, nerd?"

"Uhm.. Thanksgiving..?" he guessed, only to suddenly find himself dumped on the floor in a heap with the blankets, otherwise barely missing the crate there. It still amazed him how quickly she could move sometimes.

"My god, Hiro! You've gotten as bad as Fred! No wonder you reek!" GoGo stood up and yelled at him in disgust.

"But.. the nurses told me I couldn't get my stitches wet," he yelled back at her, as weak as that reason was. It had been over twenty-four hours now, plus his cast was the type that could get wet.

"Please… just suck it  _up_  and ask your aunt to  _help_  you take a bath. I'm sure she's used to seeing you naked in the tub," she shouted, pointing in the direction of the house where his aunt went.

"S-sorry, yeah.. okay.. m' going," Hiro tried to not let his embarrassment show as he wrapped his bed comforter around himself and scuttled through the door to go upstairs. To him, it sounded like that if she didn't mind seeing him naked, she would be dragging him to the shower herself.

:::::::::::::::::

"Oh.. you're looking much better already, sweetie," Aunt Cass gave Hiro a quick hug after he came over to the table in their upstairs kitchen for breakfast. Her statement was just to help him feel better about himself, even though his black eye had changed to a whole different shade of green and grey. At least the scrapes on his cheek and forehead were less inflamed looking.

Despite Aunt Cass's offers to help, he managed to shower himself in her bathroom. She also gave him a stool and showed him how to use the hand-held sprayer. That way, GoGo was free to use the main bathroom to freshen up.

"Because the walking dead was so last month," GoGo further teased him, sitting on the opposite side of the table from Hiro.

He just sighed, glowering at them from under his damp, floral-scented bangs. Hiro sat heavily in his chair and scrutinized a bowl-shaped mound of sticky rice, a banana muffin, and fruit on his plate. He finally picked up a strawberry and nibbled at it.

"Here, eat some of this too, sweetie," Aunt Cass set a white porcelain bowl of hot, fermented bean paste broth with some cubed potato and seaweed in front of him as she sat down. She made sure he took all of his medicine earlier, so she felt he really should eat something too so his stomach didn't feel so queasy. "It's made with ingredients that'll help you feel better."

"She's right... especially since it's my recipe." GoGo glanced at his soup once, then agreed with her openly. The sensible college student had shared a couple recipes with Aunt Cass earlier, after wondering what kind of soups she could make with her family's handmade dumplings.

The younger Hamada scowled in response, but just as quickly became more neutral in appearance when he noticed another wary look from GoGo. She then motioned to mix some rice from his plate into the soup, thinking that would make it better. Aunt Cass wondered how tha would go, because she knew he didn't like eating rice porridge that much.

Hiro actually followed through by mixing more rice into the soup, and ate a spoonful.

Aunt Cass brought a hand over her smile, just to hide how much she was amused by the interactions between these two. Despite their charming responses, she also appreciated the encouraging effect this older girl had on her wayward nephew. He needed the role model, and GoGo helped him cope. Aunt Cass admitted she also needed and appreciated GoGo's perspective, because there were days she really had no idea how to get through to Hiro.

The last thing she wanted was another bout of depression from the subway attack. After Tadashi's funeral, her younger nephew had refused to leave his room for weeks. She couldn't tell if he actually slept or just stared at the walls, but he certainly didn't make any effort to eat.

Finding Hiro sleeping with GoGo on the couch downstairs, however, did come as a surprise; even if it appeared that they hadn't done anything risqué. Aunt Cass could fathom how that might have happened, but it still struck her as unexpected.

Were they already becoming  _that_  close?

She would have to talk to Hiro about that kind of thing again later. Tadashi had warned her a couple times about this, considering the peer pressure from the older age group that Hiro would be subjected to. Except Hiro had been so reserved and anti-social before… this did come sooner than she anticipated.

Aunt Cass watched the two eat, before taking a bite of pineapple. GoGo had not said much, but she usually doesn't. Honey Lemon was more of the chatty sort in comparison. Yet she noticed GoGo seemed to be more mindful of her manners in Aunt Cass's presence. Their behavior still didn't feel at ease, like they were still hiding something. Or was it just the residual effect from her finding out that they had slept together.

Yet, there was also something else she needed to address while she had both of them there. "Where is Baymax, Hiro? Can you tell me?"

The way Hiro's face went blank for a second before saying anything already told her it was something that was bothering him.

"Uhm," Hiro's eyes stole another glance from GoGo from across the table as he set his spoon down. Since they told Aunt Cass yesterday, it was very likely GoGo had told him he should fess up too. There was no getting out of this now.

"He's... Baymax was stolen.. too."

Aunt Cass softened, seeing how nervous and guilty her nephew had become after he made his confession. She put a hand on his shoulder, then gripped his left hand. "Hiro.. I'm not going to get upset. This really wasn't your fault ."

Hiro looked down at his plate, pressing his lips together.

"I'm glad you finally told me. But .. I am  _more_  worried that you don't feel comfortable about telling me something  _this_  important," she continued, keeping her focus on his face as he processed her concern. This time she wanted to make that clear to him. That she really wanted him to talk to her about these troubles too.

Her nephew looked back up to her, finally with something to say. "It's…that I- I don't want you to be disappointed in me. Or to just be worried all the time."

"Hiro, sweetie, you mean so much to me! It's because I care about you, that I worry. I just want to  _help_  you.. that I want you to talk to me about this," she reached up to sweep his dark hair back, to reassure him. The thought crossed her mind that having GoGo there during this conversation was probably not helping him much, emotionally.

"Sorry…" he mouthed the word, but his apprehensive demeanor had not relaxed.

"Hiro," Aunt Cass finally was able to hold eye contact with him. "I told you before, I will try to not get angry with you when you get into this kind of trouble."

"I know... but.." Hiro breathed. "Did you tell the police?"

He said 'did', indicating that he knew that she must have known before this conversation. "Not yet. I wanted to talk to you about it first."

Hiro nodded, furrowing his brows. He looked away for a second in thought, setting his jaw as he seemed to calculate his next words. The younger Hamada made eye contact with his Aunt and GoGo, only to hesitate again.

"There's something else… you should know, for why I didn't want you to get the police involved," Hiro explained softly, rolling a chopstick in between his fingers.

"Yes?" Aunt Cass gently prodded him verbally. GoGo had sat up more, also appearing a little more concerned.

"It's about Tadashi," Hiro spoke carefully, making an effort to keep his eyes on theirs. "He's not dead. He's actually... not, he's.. someplace else."

"What?" GoGo narrowed her eyes, trying to make sense of his information.

"How do you know? Where is he?" Aunt Cass felt her emotions welling up again. Really, why was Hiro coming up with a far-fetched story like this now?

"There was never a body found, so they falsely assumed he was…" Hiro's sentence faded. He started again, trying harder to sound more sure of himself. "I mean, yeah.. Tadashi's not  _here_ , here anymore. But.. I can  _hear_  him talk to me sometimes. And sometimes… I see him as  _fire—"_

"So in your dreams…?" GoGo asked him, looking very much dubious.

"Mostly, but—"

"If he's a ghost..  _how_  does that not mean he's..?" the mechanical engineer was not afraid to ask the questions that began to also bother Aunt Cass. She wasn't ready to believe him yet either.

"From what T'dashi's trying to tell me," Hiro appeared anxious again, because he must have felt that they weren't believing him. That GoGo was not prepared to hear this theory, now, despite the fragile state of his adolescent emotions. "He has to be trapped in another place, another reality!"

"How?"

"That's what I  _don't_  know.. but he.. I  _think_  he went through that mini portal at the convention, to  _escape_  the explosion!" Hiro slammed the chopstick down on the table.

Aunt Cass and GoGo both stared at Hiro after his outburst. The younger woman sighed, and then held out her hand as if she was going to ask the question again. But she didn't, and turned sideways in her seat while muttering something under her breath in Korean.

The brunette turned to Hiro, touching his shoulder. He did sound very serious, and his expression didn't look like he was making that story up. She felt for him and wanted to believe him, if just briefly, but she was also worried that her nephew was still in denial, and this was his wishful delusion to cope. "Sweetie, please.. are you  _sure_?"

"Yes," Hiro held his eyes on hers, and did not waiver. "It's like he's.. he had bonded with Baymax."

Aunt Cass closed her eyes, her heart suddenly beating faster. She had felt Tadashi's presence from Baymax so many times now, that much was not made up. She really wasn't just imagining it.

"Tadashi's with him…" Hiro whispered.

She drew in a breath and held it. Hiro sounded sincere enough. This wasn't another one of his mind games, or a delusional fantasy. The worried brunette exhaled, then got up from her chair to give Hiro hug. "That must have been really hard to say, but.. thank you," Aunt Cass pulled her nephew close. He followed suit a beat later, bringing his arms up around her.

"He needs help though," Hiro added, when she released him. "And I.. I know where Baymax is."

"Hiro," GoGo started, sounding cautionary.

Aunt Cass exchanged glances between the two. She noticed Hiro touching his thumb to fingertips together in a sequence on his right hand, but she wasn't sure if that was more fidgeting, or if he was telling GoGo something.

"It's just that this isn't your  _typical_  kind of crime  _for_  the police.. anymore," Hiro began explaining his reasoning to Aunt Cass.

Then GoGo sighed, picking up the lead. "Yes, this isn't. Are you familiar with  _who_  Fred's father was?" she asked Aunt Cass.

"Apart from being the CEO of a multimillion dollar entertainment agency... not entirely," the older woman shook her head 'no'.

"Before he retired, he was also involved with SHIELD, which is a government agency that investigates supernatural, even extraterrestrial activity," GoGo broke it down for her.

"So that means..?"

"That I had asked Fred if his dad could help us with this, and they are," Hiro explained further. "You could say that the SHIELD are like the  _superhero_  police."

"So what you are telling me is that these gangsters aren't  _normal_?" Aunt Cass was trying to understand this new revelation.

"Yup."

"Then.. would the SHIELD be able to find Tadashi too?"

The expression on Hiro's face looked like he was caught off guard for a moment, but it disappeared just as quickly. "Y-yeah. Maybe."

"Makes sense why you didn't want to talk about Baymax before, I guess," Aunt Cass pursed her lips in further consideration. Fred was the first one he had called, and this helped explain why.

Hiro nodded, looking down at his plate. His eyes trailed to the floor when Mochi came by, rubbing up against his leg.

"This way, we are involved, but still keeping a safe distance.. as you wished," GoGo smiled to Aunt Cass reassuringly.

"Yes, I see that. Thank you," Aunt Cass nodded. "How soon will you know the results?"

"Not sure..." GoGo frowned.

"It's hard to say, since they have to infiltrate their ranks," Hiro explained.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

GoGo nodded in kind.

Wow. That was just.. wow. Sometimes Hiro was flat out dense about most social situations, but the way he worked his aunt to keep her from calling the police about Baymax was slick. Not only was he being truthful for the most part, Hiro still remained careful about certain details. Of course, this was his aunt and it could be that he was already familiar with how to win her over.

But the part about his brother… GoGo still had trouble in believing that as true. Saying that Tadashi was Baymax was conceivable, if it was suggested that the robot was possessed with his ghostly spirit. But to suggest that his older brother was on a different plane of existence, and still could reach into this one? How?

GoGo picked up her chopsticks again to take another bite of the now cold sticky rice, since the others started back to eating. Hiro left the conversation so that she could continue with the request for him to come to their dinner party later. Hopefully that plan would still work, all things considering.

She watched Hiro struggle his way through eating the rice and soup mixture. At least he was actually able to eat now, and that most of his complaints were just him being a big baby. Hopefully Aunt Cass would notice that he was getting better, and would be more lenient in letting him go out later.

"So.. later, a bunch of us from our lab had planned a special study-slash-dinner outing together to celebrate the semester end," GoGo started, hoping she would sound as smooth as Hiro had.

"Tonight?" Aunt Cass already begun with the questions.

"Yes, we had planned it earlier, before the earthquake, but then things happened. So.. we were on the line about it earlier," GoGo continued.

"You decided to keep it for tonight?"

"Yes. No choice now," GoGo nodded her head, and made a clear effort to look Aunt Cass in the eye while sounding as sincere as possible. She didn't like stretching the truth like this, but it was a plan she and Hiro had to adhere too. "Wasabi is tied up tomorrow, Honey and I have our presentations to get ready for on Friday, and Fred was only able to get reservations at the Osaka Orange tonight."

"But next week isn't better?" the brunette wondered.

"No. Wasabi's going back to New York for winter break after his last exam on Tuesday."

Aunt Cass sighed.

"So.. can I still go, oba?" Hiro took that moment to plead with her.

Aunt Cass looked at both of them, clearly considering what could be the pros and cons. "Do you feel well enough to go out for this?"

"I'll be okay," Hiro tried to reassure her.

She pursed her lips, still apparently thinking this over.

"We won't let him out of our sight either," GoGo decided to add, in case she was worrying about other things.

"You can't go to any over-21 areas," Aunt Cass also warned him.

"Like I want too?" Hiro curled up his lip in distaste. GoGo could only imagine why. The nerd clearly did not like getting sick, so him going overboard with any alcoholic drinks was highly unlikely.

"Fred and I aren't twenty-one yet either," GoGo was quick to add. "But we aren't planning to party like that."

"That's good then," Aunt Cass sat back. She didn't sound sold though.

"Honey Lemon said it's also a formal affair," Hiro supplied. "So I have to get dressed up."

"Really?"

"Honey's going to get me a rental tux."

"She knows your size? Wouldn't you need to be there to make sure it fits?" Aunt Cass sat up more, apparently not liking the fact she wasn't there to help with this. Ah, if only she knew the whole truth behind that question.

"It's not like it's prom…" Hiro muttered dryly under his breath. GoGo raised an eyebrow, surprised that he was being so salty now.

"Which you did not go to. But I still have the right to worry about this," his aunt had the right to be sharp with him in response. "More importantly, your face is a mess and I doubt your cast will fit through the sleeves."

Hiro looked a little more downcast as he looked at the uneaten food still on his plate.

"I have Steve coming later to help me with the finishing touches downstairs. I can take Hiro to find something so Honey doesn't have to," she told the two.

The younger Hamada curled his lip up in further disdain. The poor kid must not like clothes shopping with his 'parental figure', from the looks of it. But at least it's not like they're dressing him up as a girl again.

"It's okay," GoGo told him, both openly and otherwise, to let him know they can work with this. Then she looked to Aunt Cass, with more information. "I'll have to check with Honey to see if she already got it."

"Hmm, I see," Aunt Cass nodded.

"We'll use makeup to cover up his bruises too," GoGo suddenly realized she sounded too confident with that fact when Hiro shot her a Look.

"Makeup?"

"Yeah… never underestimate Honey Lemon's knowledge of makeup. Remember her experiment from last spring?" GoGo chased her thought with that knowledge, and smiled slightly for further emphasis. That last project where the ambitious chemist tried to come up with a good-looking, hypoallergenic, make-up 'mask' that could be applied in a flash was anything short of 'interesting'.

Hiro seemed to become suddenly fascinated with a spot in on the far wall, just to show his indifference to this topic.

"Ah, that's right," Aunt Cass smiled in kind, then glanced to Hiro.

"Whatever," he sighed, only to remember the stakes that were on the line. The younger Hamada brightened up, smiling very sweetly. "So, can I go?"

His aunt hesitated again. GoGo could not really blame her, after considering the wide range of unsettling topics discussed in the last half hour.

"What time are you meeting?" she finally asked.

"At 7 pm, but is it okay if we come by earlier so we can help him get him ready?" GoGo wondered.

"Well, can you do that here?"

"I'll see," GoGo responded in kind. She was trying to not sound annoyed at how all these details were getting tricky.

Hiro still looked at his aunt, his eyes softly pleading for a positive answer.

"Okay… try to have some fun, sweetie," Aunt Cass sighed. "But I want you back no later than 10 pm."

"Domo arigato, oba-san!"

GoGo groaned, rolling her eyes a bit from the nerd's over-the-top reaction with the Japanese he's been learning more of.

"Thank you for breakfast also. You always make delicious food," GoGo gathered her dishes, while standing up. "Do you need help with cleaning up?"

"Oh, thank you for the offer GoGo, but I should be okay. I imagine the two of you have a lot of work yet to do," Aunt Cass patted her shoulder warmly.

"Yeah, there is. Thank you..." Hiro agreed, and roughly scooted back his chair from the table.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hiro set his dishes on the counter by the sink, and turned with the intent to follow GoGo down the stairs to the garage. His aunt stopped him by gently holding him back, her hand taking hold of his arm.

"Hiro, sweetie, are you serious about Tadashi?" Aunt Cass whispered as she searched his eyes again for this confirmation.

"Yeah, I am," he responded just, as quietly, just to keep her calm.

"How long did you know..?"

"Um.. s-sometime before the earthquake," his gaze fell downward. Her searching eyes were making him feel uncomfortable again, for not saying anything to her sooner about this. He had been too scared to tell her, honestly. Too afraid of how she would react, and the questions she would ask. He did learn most of this from hacking into police records, after all.

"He really is.. just... trapped somewhere?"

"Y-yeah, Tada-nii is. He just isn't sure where he is and how he can get back," Hiro sighed, trying to think. "If he went through an experimental portal that got destroyed in the fire, there's no conclusive way to figure out where it sent him."

"How does he.. talk to you?" Aunt Cass twisted her mouth, doing her best to understand this.

"I realized not all of my dreams are PTSD related.. and sometimes, Baymax says stuff I know can't be from his programming," Hiro swallowed down his emotions, before continuing. He was doing so well keeping them in check earlier. "When I got knocked out, T'dashi was talking to me, telling me to get up and find help."

"Oh," Aunt Cass bit her lip, feeling the longing in his words.

"I was actually able to  _see_  him there with me… until he wasn't," Hiro said, gritting his teeth. His eyes were starting to well up, when that memory of waking up alone in the subway hit him. He didn't want to start crying, but when his aunt pulled him into a hug, he couldn't hold it back anymore.

"He really misses us…" Hiro strained to add.

"Just.. we'll figure something out, okay?" she reassured him, running a hand through his tousled hair.

"Yeah.." Hiro sniffled, forcing his quelling emotions back down. He needed to keep it together, lest she worry more about his mental state. He stepped away and quickly wiped his eyes with his hands. He really wanted to leave now.

"Hiro.. wait," Aunt Cass stopped him again.

He did, sighing lightly, but didn't turn around yet.

"It's about tonight.. and GoGo," she started quietly, but with a hint of sternness this time.

Hiro shoulders drooped, fearing that she's caught on to something suspicious. He turned to look at her now.

"I really want you to be  _much_  older.. like over sixteen, no seventeen, until you start dating, okay?" she put both hands on his shoulders, most likely to keep him from edging away, as she looked Hiro in the eyes.

"Uh.. y-yeah, right," he smiled, suddenly feeling very trapped and embarrassed. It might have been a relief that this wasn't suspicion.. but to be given the Talk about GoGo? He should have seen this coming, especially after last night. "I'm not- we're  _not_  going on a date. As a couple. No."

"Yes, but I just want to make sure," she didn't let him go yet.

Hiro was sure she noticed his flushed red cheeks by now too. Of course, he was fully aware of everything behind dating as minors and statutory rape laws. But that was only a problem if someone called them out on it, right?

"GoGo already told me I'm not boyfriend material… just friends. L-like a big sister."

"I see," his aunt smiled at him, with a little more understanding. "I just want you to be careful,  _responsible…_  okay, sweetie?"

"Of course," Hiro smiled nervously again. Not like there would be time for hand holding and kissing if they were too busy kicking ass.

His aunt also finally dropped her hands from his shoulders, a little more satisfied after making herself clear. "Yes, that's how I want my grown-up gentleman to be."

He smiled sheepishly at her again, taking a couple steps back before feeling more confident that she was letting him leave. This whole day was going to be anything short of predictable.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

In the few times that she had been in Hamada's garage, GoGo knew at this point there shouldn't be something that resembled a pet door in the big garage door. What had caught her eye was the small square of daylight in the dark garage, that was visible at the bottom right hand corner of the door. Someone had cut through the thick, wood panel there, since the garage had been blocked with the truck parked up against it outside.

For a fleeting moment she wondered if Hiro did that during the night, just because it seemed like something he would do in his desperation. However, GoGo stood corrected when she turned on the lights and saw that the work area looked far more messy than usual. Like it had been tossed.. ransacked. Growing more concerned, she saw that while Ronin was still there, he was lacking both of his arms.

GoGo was sure now that they had been vandalized! Of all the low down, savage…

Swearing, GoGo glanced around, on higher alert now. This had to have just happened, because Hiro robot was intact before they went upstairs. She wondered if the vandal was still there, on the prowl. Hiro was still upstairs, apparently taking with Aunt Cass. The speedster narrowed her eyes, trying to think up something fast. Hiro's going to be so pissed about what they did.

Unfortunately, he was already there behind her, staring woefully at the sight.

"Hiro," GoGo tried to stop to him, but he pushed her aside in disbelief as he continued down the steps into the garage. He already looked flustered from something Aunt Cass needled him about, so this did nothing to help his broken state of mind.

"Wha— why?!"

"I just saw this myself!" GoGo refuted. It really put her on edge that they knew exactly where he lived, and what he was doing. But why they just wrecked his robot and not take it only added to the confusion.

"How come they..?" Hiro was noticing more of the vandalism, swearing the more he saw.

"Apparently they felt the need to fuck with us some more," GoGo muttered grimly under her breath.

"Ronin, attention! Why didn't you fight them?" Hiro shouted at his slumped over robot in anger.

The steel grey frame straightened up as his gold optics glowed brighter. "What is.. my directive?" Ronin spoke slowly.

" _If_  someone is attacking,  _then_  you defend!" the young teen yelled at him. "What part of  _that_  don't you understand?!"

Hiro's yelling hardly phased the robot, and he asked the same question again. "What is .. my directive?"

"To serve and  _protect_!" Hiro growled.

"What is .. my directive?" the question came again. GoGo deducted something was wrong with him.

"What..?" Hiro stared at the clueless robot, and then gripped his hair in frustration.

"Hiro, c'mere," GoGo approached the seething genius and put a hand on his shoulder.

"No!" he swatted her away. Hiro stormed to the end of the garage by the big garage door, then paced back over to the robot. "I can't let Aunt Cass see that. Dammit!"

"Hiro, hey!" the older engineer tried again. "It's okay."

"How? I can't! There isn't— they  _know_  where I live!"

"Just listen to me, genius," she was able to hold him still long enough to make eye contact. For a brief moment, she remembered that Wasabi had to do the same with her yesterday. "We can solve this, okay? Focus!"

Hiro gulped, trying to breathe, but he still looked steamed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes, Hiro does have a crush on GoGo that he knows is... awkward/complicated. But he diesnt want to give up on it. Gogo knows too, and is in a constant struggle by trying to guard herself against fueling Hiro's 'fascination'. This is part of why she got so angry waaaay back in the first chapter at Fred. But she's deciding if it doesn't get out of control, she'll let it be. (FYI - Statutory rape is when a minor over 13 dates someone who is over 18, and someone calls them out on it.)


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hello again! Wow, I realized it has been over a year since posting something in this fanfic. I stand guilty.. I lost interest on writing for this one. But with the renewed interest in Big Hero 6 due to the new cartoon series, that helped a lot (even those this is strictly based on the movie still). 
> 
> Please enjoy!

 

_(2 Corinthians 12: 9) But he told me: "My kindness is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak."_

* * *

 

Hiro sat heavily on the stool by his workbench in his garage. He held his head in his hands, just growling at everything gone wrong so far. He was so tired of this, and felt so sick to his stomach again. They left him all beat up in a dangerous place in the subway... one wrong move, he could have fallen to his death on the tracks. Hiro didn't want to think of that again, it made him feel so hopeless. So angry, they stole everything, when he was weak and alone!

In more or less words, GoGo told him to sit down, to  _calm_  down, and that's what he was trying to do. Trying, because it wasn't at all easy to think of peaceful, positive thoughts right now. Setting off explosives in all of Yama's hideouts to take them all  _down_ , where ever those may be, sounded like a much better plan. They took  _everything_! They deserved it!

But… no. Prematurely acting off his emotions was how he got into this kind of trouble. Then being younger than the others, weaker and clumsier too, no wonder his teammates felt like they had to babysit him. It was extremely frustrating, ending up like this! Wanting to get even with everyone who wronged him, instead of doing the right thing.

Which left him wondering what qualities  _did_  he have - besides being super smart - that he could use  _and_  be proud of? He didn't want to give up, and let the Fujita have that satisfaction. But… what could he do now? Hiro felt wrecked that he didn't have Tadashi's drive, strength, charisma… or the seasoned experiences like his teammates, or.. access to the SFIT labs. Not just because Hiro was grounded, it was because his supply limits were already maxed out there. Because he was trying to do it all, by  _himself_.

So  _what_  could he do? He couldn't think of  _anything_  good on his own. The injured genius sighed, slipping through his hands so that his forehead hit the wooden surface of his work bench with a soft thud. He stayed like that, his arms folded on top around his head, for a couple more long seconds in thought.

GoGo had finished doing a quick check of the garage for anything else amiss. So far vandalizing Ronin was the only offense. They didn't detect any suspicious devices or other tampering. Feeling more secure, GoGo proceeded to text the others about their next steps. She also told Hiro that the break-in was not going to change anything, because as Big Hero 6, they weren't going to give in. They were better than their enemy!

That held so much truth. It was in understanding the difference in having people come to his aide because he was being reckless and immature, which he hated, versus recognizing others talents and asking them to help by working together to achieve more. Hiro realized that all over again… that they  _wanted_  to be friends with him. It wasn't just to fill a obligation for his brother anymore, or be his replacement.

He drew in a breath, lifting up his head. His teammates, his  _friends_ , were his strength. So was his brother, everyone. Unlike his school projects, this time he didn't have to prove a grade, or his worth, by doing it all by himself.

"How capable is Wasabi at operating the industrial die casting equipment at SFIT," the robotics engineer glanced back toward GoGo. Even though SFIT was out of the question for him, it just meant asking someone else who could. He just needed to get his backup copy of Ronin's programming. Then if someone else worked on replacing the nanotech that had been stolen, they would still make it to the bot fights in time.

GoGo smiled surprisingly in response, and that had given him an ounce more of courage. "Capable enough," she walked over and leaned against the workbench next to him. "What do you have in mind?"

"If we have him, and maybe Honey Lemon too, working on that part of it at the labs, then I can stay focused on the programming and stuff like that here for Ronin. If I can, I want to upgrade his attributes with what all of us have with our super suits. Then I'll show you how to control him," Hiro explained, leaning his elbow against the workbench. "Like you could use shadowboxing, or the neurotransmitter. I'm leaning more towards the neurotransmitter though, just because thoughts travel faster than actions."

"Whichever way you think is best," she nodded, chewing her gum. She tucked a strand of her purple streaked hair behind her ear. Her cool composure in all this chaos was really breathtaking, dammit.

Hiro swallowed.

"I'll.. also have a video feed going in through Ronin… so everything he sees, I can see," he scratched his head, then got up to pace as he thought out loud. "Since I'm going to be hacking in from an off site location… that's just to be sure you're okay too."

"Ronin's like your body double?" GoGo bluntly presented her conclusion.

"Well, yeah.. you could say that," Hiro twisted his face, dropping his tone. Her reason sounded better to agree to, than admitting his more personal fear that she would be the one being targeted next, and possibly getting killed. He had fallen way too much for GoGo to lose her now. "Since all this  _was_  my fault.. I want help as much as possible."

GoGo shook her head in disagreement, then reached out to ruffle his hair. "We can  _all_  take care of this, okay?"

Her words reinstated Hiro's earlier thoughts, and he mustered a smile.

::::::::::::::::::::::::

GoGo felt more optimistic from witnessing Hiro's rebounding determination as the day progressed. Yes, she was rather concerned at first for his mental state after they had found that his garage was broken into. Worried for his safety, and that he wouldn't want to cooperate. Now, it seemed that Hiro had a kind of revelation, and realized how horribly he was acting before.

It also helped tremendously that they were making headway in fabricating more of the much needed nanotech through an unexpected source, coupled with much needed protection from SHIELD. Considering certain limitations if they relied on the SFIT labs, Hiro called Fred, who in turn contacted his Dad. He was able to pull some strings with a local supplier to make it happen quickly. Hiro was left speechless. That just left tasking Wasabi with burning another copy of the programming chips for Ronin.

She looked away from the tablet, crackling her gum a bit, to take a break from the website she had been researching for the bot fight. Apparently, this one had some rules and regulations that were to be followed. The speedster had been sitting backwards on a small swiveling desk chair next to him, and rested the tablet on the top of the seat now.

Hiro was zoned in on soldering tiny points on a chip the size of a credit card. His focus was 90% on that, his tongue between his teeth in concentration, ala 'tongue focus'.

The nerd told her that he wanted to combine all their 'upgraded powers' that they had as heroes into Ronin. However, after what she read in the regulations, that may have to be changed. "Hey, from this… it looks like the laser blades and electromagnetic shocks are okay, but the chem balls are a no-go. They don't allow any flying projectiles, use of chemicals, or anything else that would put the audience around the ring at risk."

Hiro glanced up from over his magnification specs to talk to her. "But I  _can_  put your disks on Ronin, as long as you don't take them off?"

"Yep," she scrolled through the page, tracing her finger along the screen. GoGo blew a larger pink bubble to pop loudly.

"That means they can't shoot bullets either," came the next prompt.

GoGo looked over to him, making eye contact despite his thick bangs shielding his eyes. "Of course."

Hiro looked away, and pressed his lips together before adding his additional thought. "Unless they don't  _care_  about being disqualified…"

"Then equip Ronin with some immobilizing and shielding chem balls as  _last_  resort," the petite mechanical engineering put the tablet down, and popped her gum. God, there was that sad truth also. She had witnessed cutthroat competition like that before in her own time, so she knew he just wasn't being sarcastic. The speedster was a seasoned competitor, with the confidence and know-how to keep it together through the toughest spots. "But we're still playin'  _nice_ , okay?"

"Yeah…" Hiro seemed to be caught in a thought too, since he was still staring down at his work without doing anything. He took off the magnification glasses and put them on the work table. "There's something else… I should tell you."

GoGo faced him, recognizing the new, vulnerable insecurity in his dark eyes.

"The reason I got back into bot fighting.. was because I needed the money," he admitted to her. "I'm sorry.. really sorry, for not telling you guys sooner. That I just.. needed funds, for the additional tech, and stuff."

The speedster nodded, because she already knew. What she was more happy about was that he  _finally_  confessed this last truth to her. It wasn't the whole team, and Aunt Cass was clearly not aware of any of it. But this was a start. He needed to build and strengthen a new bond with someone. "Just having a regular job wasn't paying enough?"

"Well yeah… especially for a fourteen year old," the younger Hamada scoffed, looking up to GoGo. "There was just so much I could do for Aunt Cass at the café… but I didn't feel like asking her for any more money. Things are kind of tight for her."

"Especially now… yeah."

Hiro looked annoyed, but he still continued. "I was also taking out the moped, to go to the fights," his eyes darted behind her to where the moped was covered in the garage. "Safer than using public transportation, so they wouldn't follow me so easily. That's why I can't believe I got jumped like I did."

GoGo clicked her tongue, shaking her head. He was on a mission to tell her everything now, so she threw in her thoughts as well. "No doubt they were pissed, 'cause all your wins threw off their betting pools."

"Not..  _all_  of them…"

"That's usually how it goes."

"... Yeah. Well, I'm done with all that for good... after tonight," Hiro sighed, sitting up a little more.

"Yeah?"

"For real. 'Cause like Fred wants to help in supporting us, Big Hero 6. His Dad wants to help us to become 'more'."

"Actually, that's good news. How's Mr. Fredrickson going to help?" GoGo leaned in closer to him to ask.

"That's part of why were getting so much help now," he smiled slightly, showing his modesty. "Fred didn't go into all the details yet… the first time he told me, we were just talking about stuff when I was in the ER.. to pass the time."

They didn't speak for another long pause as Hiro worked, before GoGo decided to break the silence. Even though being thoughtful and caring wasn't her forte, she had to admit she liked talking with him like this. The nerd was opening up for her again, showing more of his trust. "What do you need help with next?"

"Ehh…" Hiro had put back on his magnification specs to study the work on his small circuit board. GoGo decided he had to think about her question. "Maybe you can practice operating Ronin with the neurotransmitter? Even without the nanotech arms, you could still work with the basics, I guess." He said this while redirecting his focus back on soldering again.

"Sure," the sassy engineer nodded. Then she reached out and wrapped her hand around his left hand holding the solder dispensing tool. He was having trouble holding it steady due to his hand injury.

That action caused him to look up at her for a second, his mouth twitched.  _Was he blushing now? Tch…_

"What should I use for the dummy, for target practice? If Ronin is as bad aft as you say he is, the Wave Masters gonna get trashed," GoGo asked next.

"Yeah… uhm," Hiro stopped again, making a face as he realized that too. He moved his left hand away, gesturing that he was done. She let go as he did. "Use some of the rubble and scrap out in the alley? Stuff left over from the earthquake?"

"That might work…" GoGo pursed her lips on thought also. If it was heavy, she would need help getting it in, since the garage door was still blocked. She picked up the neurotransmitter, which honestly looked more like a hairband, and put it in place (without having it push her bangs back, because that was totally not her style). "Ronin, come with me."

The robot awakened and then stood up to follow her out the back of the garage.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

_By the grace of the fire, and the flames,  
You're the face of the future, the blood in my veins…_

_**Imagine Dragons** _ _'Believer'_

::::::::::::::::::::::::

On second thought, it was increasingly distracting when another sound of lumber and brick remnants came crashing against the wall and the floor of that part of the garage. GoGo had constructed a Jenga sort of tower-structure that could be knocked down for each strike. Then, of course, Ronin made quick work in putting the pieces back together afterwards to rebuild it.  _Why_  it was so distracting was that he wanted to watch them in action, instead of working on debugging his code for the Chem ball settings.

GoGo was getting the hang of the neurotransmitter, and performed the full kicking techniques and arm motions with her own body. She had taken her jacket off, and was in just her tanktop since she was getting so sweaty. Her toned muscles on her lithe arms glistened a little… something that Hiro found to be such a turn-on.

"Hey, where's that one tool?" the speed queen was suddenly right next to him, looking over the scattering of tools and parts on the worktable. Hiro's mind froze,  _caught_.. feeling vulnerable for not being ready for her. Why was he even thinking about GoGo in that way? Sadly, he didn't have nearly the organizational sense, than say, Wasabi or Honey Lemon. "Ehh… which.. tool?" Hiro forced out his words.

"Nevermind, found it," Gogo left just as quickly once she snatched her prize.

He just glanced back to watch what was going on again.

"There's a lag between thought and action too," GoGo explained. "Not fast enough."

"Well, if you just think it without doing it, Ronin would respond faster," Hiro refuted. He thought of that earlier, but well, for obvious selfish reasons he decided to wait… just in case she was just practicing the motions to improve her concentration.

"Mhh… true," she set aside the tool then turned Ronin back on. "Sword mode, test three."

Ronin stood tall, and his arms morphed into two blue glowing blades that were thin and long, like samurai swords. The blade part was like Wasabi's blades, made purely of plasma matter.

Instead of taking on a strike to the tower, the robot immediately switched off his swords and spun 180 degrees toward the entrance that led to the café. This was a precaution for when Aunt Cass entered the garage. Hiro didn't want her to see the battle training, for obvious reasons. She had stopped in a couple times earlier to wonder what all the ruckus was about. The explanation given that they were doing search & rescue training and functionality.

"Hi guys!" Honey was first to greet the two engineers. She had an arm around Wasabi while he helped her down the make shift stairs.

"He's looking impressive!" Wasabi commented, setting aside some nice clothes on hangers and covered on a long plastic bag.

"Yeah… I just need finish up on the details," Hiro nodded, smiling a little.

"How are you feeling, Hiro?" The tall blonde first wanted to ask as she settled her items on the table nearby, most if which he recognized as her makeup kits.

"Better..." Hiro said, but his eyes were still trained other stuff. She seemed to think the same, and looked a little more closely at his face.

"That's good to hear," Honey Lemon smiled, reassuringly. "I should be able to cover the black eye okay… the cuts might need some work though."

"Yey…" Hiro muttered, and promptly switched his thoughts back to what they were working on. The robo-genius thumbed over to GoGo, beaming . "Ask Ronin do the 'Twin Tornado Blades'."

"The what?" Wasabi rose an eyebrow. Yes, so maybe Hiro took that one from the battle cries he heard in his favorite anime shows.

GoGo scrunched her face in concentration, but this time her body remained motionless. Ronin stepped back into a kicking stance with his swords held upright, and then leapt into a spinning motion to kick at the tower. He twisted around to strike at the debris falling back down with his two blades.

"Wow!" Honey Lemon clapped, very amazed to see the mess that was also made. She told him once that explosions were something of a secret passion she had, as long as they were harmless.

"Oh, and then the robot picks up afterwards.. that's a keeper!" Wasabi was more surprised to see how Ronin transformed his blades into hands and other cleaning tools to reassemble the tower.

"Clean-up is part of his search and rescue function," GoGo crossed her bare arms, leaning back on the bench.

"We also got the tuxes and dresses for you two to look at," Honey Lemon chimed. She hopped a couple steps over on her good foot to lift up a dress laying on top. "I got a couple of the best styles… what do you think of this one, GoGo?"

She pulled off a plastic bag to reveal a dark red dress with a short ice-skating style skirt and a halter top that looked like it would provide a very revealing halter top. "I figured you may be active, so a shorter skirt might be better. I know you suggested a suit, but this is more of a disguise."

GoGo glanced over to Hiro, who without a doubt caught him in his drop-jaw shock. Never mind that he liked the red color. Hiro was immediately hung up on the amount of cleavage that would be seen, something he was not at all comfortable with. Not just for him… he felt a protective urge that  _no one_  should be allowed to see  _that_  much of her!

"What's the other one look like?" GoGo asked Honey Lemon, indirectly turning that one down. Even Wasabi looked a little more relieved.

"Didn't think that one was going to fly," he told Honey.

Honey nodded, putting Dress A down. She lifted the plastic off of Dress B, with was two toned. "This one is short like the other one, but it has a different top," Honey held it up. The top part was back and lacy, and then the colored faded to a dark red for the skirt. The skirt was short and flared out a bit in two layers of silky fabric, and it was a choker style that went around her neck. The back had an attractive see-through style, which he felt was way better than the revealing cleavage.

"Dress B," Hiro breathed the words.

"There's black gloves that go with this one too," Honey added, holding up the long, elegant gloves that would go up past the elbow.

"That one," the speed queen agreed, taking the dress from her friend's hands.

Hiro now sat with his good hand propping his chin (just to keep from looking so drop-jaw again), partially hiding his creeping smile. He never really seen GoGo get dressed up like that before.

"Your turn, little man," Wasabi grinned in turn, sitting down on a stool by a workbench catty corner to them.

"So… what we have is a black one with a like black pattern," Honey Lemon picked up both, and held up the first. The pattern was a shiner texture of something that looked like marbling or leaves on a mat black. "Or.. this one with an indigo blue jacket that has black marbling and black velvet lapels."

Hiro studied them, somewhat conflicted. The indigo one he knew had to be in consideration of his supersuit. But would that be a giveaway to go with that color? However, from what they told him, he wouldn't be seen by the gangsters. Suddenly his eyes darted up toward the doorway.

"Hey guys!" Aunt Cass greeted to them, coming down the steps carefully with a tray of mugs full of hot drinks. "Just whipping up some coffee and tea for you while you were here."

"Ooh, thank you Aunt Cass!" Honey Lemon thanked her.

Wasabi stood up to help take the tray from Aunt Cass, and set it down on… Hiro jumped up to push aside some tools on his work table for Wasabi to set it down.

"This looks great.. thanks."

"Are these the tuxedos for Hiro?" Aunt Cass spotted the two choices Honey Lemon had been holding up.

"Yes, they are," the tall blonde displayed them proudly as Aunt Cass took the indigo one to inspect it. "They have matching vests and ties. I got a button up dress shirt also, just in case."

"Did you decide which one yet?" she turned to ask her nephew.

"Uhm…" Hiro feigned a smile before giving his answer. "The black one."

"Oh, okay," His aunt made a face, then swapped the blue one for the black one to look it over.

"Just because it.. goes better with GoGo's dress?" Hiro explained, then realized how 'going on a date' romantic-like that sounded. The real reason was that he wasn't comfortable with wearing the other one, and he didn't want to hurt Honey's feelings. And now his face was turning red again. Argh… he couldn't wait for this part to be over!

"He's right.. all of us decided to follow a certain theme," GoGo said, nonchalantly, finishing her statement before drinking some coffee. Her dress now hung from the edge of a shelf at the end of Hiro's worktable.

"Ohhh, this is so exciting! Hiro's going to look so handsome," Aunt Cass couldn't help but gush. "Did you rent both of these, Honey?" she asked the chemist.

"Yes… I couldn't take them from the store unless we paid for them," she explained with a nervous smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Let me pay you back," the brunette responded very gracious.

Hiro could feel himself wilting inside from this super awkward conversation that his aunt walked into. The real truth was that Fred said he would cover the expenses for their undercover guises. But that would be even harder to explain to Aunt Cass.

"No, it's okay. I don't mind at all! Just my way of saying thank you for Hiro's help after the earthquake," Honey Lemon had an equally clever comeback, however.

"Oh, really? That's very thoughtful… but are you sure?"

 _Aunt Cass…_ Hiro groaned inwardly as he also thought up another distraction to help. "Yeah, it's okay, Aunt Cass. I can actually mix and match them too. Like use the blue vest from that suit to wear with the black jacket," Hiro told her, holding up the blue one to point to its vest. And he finished it with his over-the-top 'I got this' grin.

"Okay, sweetie. We'll do that," Aunt Cass nodded with her equally forced grin.

"Okay! If you're finished down here, we can start getting ready," Honey Lemon rubbed her hands together, facing both Hiro and GoGo. "Wasabi and I have our outfits upstairs. Shall we head up to do hair and makeup first?"

"Sure… just need to save this," Hiro sighed. He closed out his work with the conclusion that he could access the computer there with the laptop upstairs to finish his programming.

"Here, let me help take these for you," Aunt Cass also picked up the make-up kit and like items.

"Do you want me to carry you? Since it's a lot of stairs going up?" Wasabi motioned to Honey Lemon to get on his back.

"I guess… that would be easier," she laughed modestly.

After Aunt Cass followed after Wasabi and Honey Lemon. GoGo tapped Hiro to grab his attention. She showed him her phone with a text message from Fred through their Big Hero 6 app.

[ **Fredzilla** ]  _Letting u know my dad has 2 agents watching the Lucky Cat. Hiro can breathe easy now. Doesn't have to worry about Aunt Cass being in danger._

Hiro was stewing in silent guilt about that, so this news really lifted him. The whole day felt like a freaking roller coaster ride, quite frankly. He still felt scared about what could have been done to Baymax though. Hiro took the opportunity to respond in kind, quickly tapping in his message.

[ **GoGoTomago** ]  _Thanx! HL and Sabi r here with the disguises. Let us know when u r ready._

GoGo was waiting at the stairs, not just to get her phone back though. "Can you make it?" she asked him, wondering if he was okay with the stairs.

"I got these… but, um.. might need help getting up the longer set," Hiro confessed, because she knew his knee still hurt. He hated being that way, but yeah… what was he trying to prove now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is the first again, after a year long hiatus. I originally had thus postep on FF.net. Decided to add it here to my AO3 account, just because BH6 is gradually coming back due to the new series.
> 
> I also will admit I had to reread through my whole story to reconnect the dots and refresh my memory on this fanfic. *feeble laugh* The trickiest part is keeping these details separate from the ones I had going in my other BH6 crossover fic. I wouldn't be surprised if my writing style has changed a bit (and hopefully for the better!) I'm a sucker for spiritual heaven/hell turmoil too, hence the random scripture. ^^;
> 
> But all the plotlines in the new BH6 series is cool to see. The unexpected things as well as the trends common in our fanfics. And the sad truth that they have read fanfics too (Fan Friction… I am so ded!) I mean, Karmi totally aged up Hiro so that he looked older and taller too! XD
> 
> I'm very much into My Hero Academia (both anime and manga), but doing what I can to refrain from writing fanfics on that! (Too much on my plate as is!) But.. I am very much inspired of those plot lines and action scenes... and pairings, of course.
> 
> Thank you again for reading!


	19. Chapter 19

 

The last couple of days basically ran together into one long action sequence. Like those rides at amusement parks that always had some kind of new twist and turn that you could never predict. Fred certainly didn't remember actually sleeping either, because everything felt like a dream come true! He had been running strictly on his adrenaline and excitement surging through his veins. Food was not forgotten because of his stress eating - lots of stress eating - in between the reviewing of profiles and background checks on all the leads that had been dug up.

A small group of SHIELD agents had moved back into the secret location under his parent's house to focus on the case. The once forgotten son of a superhero felt totally stoked to be recognized by his father's elite, even if he was just an intern-level assistant. Much of this, of course, involved lots of 'gopher' work. Go for this, go bring that, go find those, go put it away (along with put it down and don't touch that..  _again_ ). It was all good, VERY good, because this helped Hiro (despite the reality that the SHIELD were essentially the police for supervillains). Seeing his friend get so beat up really shook Fred, further convincing his dad to help as much as possible to get back Baymax.

"So, here we are!" the fanboy beamed, acknowledging the others once they piled into the stretch limo. He was still so pumped about having all of them together like this to embark on a totally amazing mission like they never had before. Yes, even better than the very first time, when they banded together to go after Callaghan.

Aunt Cass waved her last farewell before the darkly tinted car window rolled up and they pulled away.

"Yey," GoGo commented dryly. Despite Honey's protests, she insisted on wearing her black leather jacket over her dress (because the black fuzzy cashmere sweater was a 'nope') along with her black, trademark leggings. Once they finally gave in and accepted the fact that GoGo wanted the punk look, she got away with a pair of laced black Doc Martens boots too. Her short, black hair was smoothed down a bit, her purple bangs looking more red in color. The speedster wore the neurotransmitter that now sported a few more brushed steel embellishments that resembled ivy leaves to one side, so it looked like a hairpiece. GoGo's bangs were not pushed back by the transmitter hairband, because that was also a 'nope', but instead allowed to lay neatly across her forehead. Her dark red lipstick stood out the most, as well as the equally bold eyeliner. GoGo simply looked stunning, which also visibly moved Hiro (from how much he was avoiding looking at her). Fred couldn't blame him since the feisty engineer rarely  _ever_  dressed up to this level.

To be fair, both GoGo and Honey Lemon looked out of this world. Honey Lemon went crazy with her curling iron to create some ribbon-like curls that looked so shiny and fun. Then she gathered the rest of her hair in a stylish bun. The dress Honey wore was a soft sparkly mauve color and had long sleeves that reached her shoulders. The fabric gathered up in a few folds that hung low from shoulder to shoulder, leaving her neck exposed. The skirt was long, like an evening gown style as well.

Both Fred and Hiro cleaned up just as surprisingly. Alas, Fred was accustomed to it, due to his parents high society functions he had to attend from time to time. Hiro didn't look as comfortable though. His Aunt ended up giving him a haircut, much to his 'delight'. She didn't take a too much off, but it was still noticeable to everyone else. Then to add 'insult to injury' (as Hiro put it) Honey Lemon felt it was necessary to go over his hair with a flat iron just so it would lay down better.

Yep, the hair, suit, and makeup combined made the little Hamada looked something like a Kpop star now.

But they weren't done with him yet. Hiro also had to wear his navy-colored sling, which was intended for his arm with the cast. His suit jacket had to be slung over that shoulder since they couldn't get his cast through the jacket sleeve. It really was for appearances, because he insisted that he had no problems using that arm otherwise.

"So it sounds like we are not staying very long at the restaurant then?" Honey Lemon confirmed the changes in their plans.

"Yup, we'll just be there long enough to eat some appetizers, send selfies to Aunt Cass, and then we split up to make our move!" Fred explained, all while using his hands to talk out the action moments. That part he hoped wouldn't be too much of a bummer, just because of all the time that went into getting gussied up. He then paused long enough to open a refrigerated compartment at one end stocked full of vending machine type of sandwiches, drinks, chips, and like snacks. "But there's more food here if you're really hungry… like me, mmm."

Wasabi just rolled his eyes with a sigh. He was wearing black suit pants paired with a dark green textured jacket with black velvet lapels. The big guy was happy with the first attire, but he wasn't sure how long that would last.

Fred's dad was on video chat, visible on the small flat screen built into the divider between the driver and the passenger area of the stretch limo. He had been debriefing them over the secured video fed to explain their assignments after they explained what they had in mind. With Honey Lemon wanting to join them, a couple changes had been made.

"Though I'm sure if Honey Lemon and Hiro would like to stay longer, they could," the veteran superhero chuckled.

Hiro just made a face, shaking his head 'no'. "That's okay."

"To confirm, you and Fred are going to look for Baymax while I bot fight to win with Ronin," GoGo pointed to Wasabi and Fred.

"Right. Just plan to keep winning until he's found," Hiro nodded.

Wasabi was still not confident about Fred being his wing man on this endeavor, but Hiro reassured them he would also have a video feed tapped in through spy cams on the two. That baffled Fred for a moment, wondering how Hiro would keep track of their progress along with the assisting GoGo with bot fighting. That is, until he gained further understanding after remembering an earlier issue from the classic Ironman comics. They were spies going undercover in every way! Fortunately, they would find Baymax before it turned into something as out of control as an Ultron takeover.

"What if we don't find Baymax and he ends up in the fighting ring?" Leave it to Wasabi to ask the important questions.

"Hope he goes up against us?" Honey Lemon suggested.

"That is a likely chance… because if they think they know us, they'd do that to shake me up," Hiro told them, quite honestly.

"What are the chances that they'll get their hands on this?" GoGo asked him, tapping on her neurotransmitter.

"They can't," Hiro narrowed his eyes, emphasizing his point. "It's designed to respond to  _only_  your chemical signature in your neural synapses."

"Good, I was also wondering about that." Wasabi thought out loud.

"Remember when I was telling you guys how I wanted to use Baymax as a training bot? Same idea," the younger Hamada proceeded to explain. "Ronin will only respond to my voice commands, and GoGo's thoughts, voice, and actions."

"What about us? Can he respond to us?" Wasabi asked.

"He'll recognize that you are not 'the enemy'."

"So if you're not on his Friends List, you're toast?" GoGo raised her eyebrow, looking directly at him.

"When he has the bot fight programming… yes," Hiro responded, "For the BBB Championship, I removed his search and rescue protocol."

" _How_  is that  _good_?!" Wasabi gasped.

Fred had to cover his mouth to sniffle his laugh after noticing how high Wasabi eyebrows went. They were almost touching his hairline. What Wasabi worried about and what he didn't were exact opposites. Fred honestly could not wait to see how badass Ronin would be in action.

* * *

While their limo ride to the restaurant was in style, their exit was far less flashy. The young heroes left through an underground secret passage accessed from the basement of the restaurant. What made this restaurant so unique was its secret connection with SHIELD. There was an electric golf cart operated by another agent that drove them through the dimly lit hallway with grey cinder block walls. Once they reached a larger warehouse-style room with equally dim lightening and housed lots of occupied cubicles, they knew they reached their destination.

"Okey doke, this is where Hiro and Honey get off," Fred turned around in his seat to explain. He had sat shotgun in the front, next to the driver. "The rest of us are going to the garage, where we will be driven to the bot fight venue."

Hiro nodded, suddenly feeling a nervous flutter when he realized this was it. Gogo will be on her way. The agents had transported Ronin from his garage earlier. Once again, he wished he could have gone to the bot fight himself. He's always wanted to see one of these big bot championships in person! "Good luck!"

"We wish you the best!" Honey Lemon waved as they drove off.

"So…" Hiro looked up at the tall gentleman in a black suit, whose name he failed to remember. While it was nice to have this extra help, the younger Hamada kept getting that feeling he also was being monitored. That if he made the wrong move, they would be quick to correct him. Sure, he was an insanely smart genius whose inventions had that way of attracting all the wrong people, but he himself wasn't a bad person, not like a true delinquent. But if they kept making him feel so  _dangerous,_ then...

"We will have you stationed over here," the agent responded to his questioning glance, ushering the two further into the area to where their station was.

Honey Lemon had her crutches so she could move in pace with them, but Hiro secretly hoped it wasn't too far for her. She acted as though it wasn't a problem.

Once settled, Hiro checked out his video feed with Ronin and his tap with GoGo. Then he set up the video feeds for Honey. She was in charge of Fred's and Wasabi's report.

" _Hearing you loud and clear,_ " Wasabi's voice came in over Honey Lemon's audio. The video footage from both showed then inside another vehicle. They were headed downtown, the increasing number of signs and neon lights being one of the clues.

GoGo stayed silent and his feed for Ronin was still black. Hiro clenched his teeth in growing anticipation, not sure what to say to her right now. Maybe she also felt just as cautious about her every move being monitored. He did remember that the other two were going to be dropped off near the building, while she was going inside to park.

" _We're almost there! Ohhh, this is going to be so awesome!_ " Fred chimed in again, not afraid to let his excitement be known.

* * *

Unlike the underground matches, the BBB championship was notably upscale. Being open to the public, it was staged in a basketball stadium downtown. Lights and neon shone brightly around it, illuminating the evening sky. This part of town had been built to withstand earthquakes, so the time it took to clean-up was minimal. It was like nothing had happened there.

Inside, two rings were set up on the court, and the VIP seating on ground level started at the outer edge of the open floor surrounding the rings. For safety reasons, there was a buffer zone between the rings and the spectator seating. A handful of large screen monitors hung high overhead the rings for a better view of the action.

GoGo walked to her assigned prep bay with an agent in black jeans and a weathered black biker-style leather jacket, posing as her maintenance technician and wanna-be boyfriend material. Ronin was wheeled in on a cart in his transport box mode. Keeping their profile low as they passed through the check-in counter was their foremost concern. The speedster was still in her red dress and her black jacket.

" _Did you see the brackets for the matches yet?_ " Hiro's tiny voice came in, one that only GoGo could hear. He was still in the dark, literally.

"No," her response was breathed out as she set up things in their space. She wasn't up for appearing as if she was talking to herself.

They were stationed in larger side rooms on the first floor under the stadium seating, apart from the main arena. It looked like a big locker room area, but without the benches. Thick portable walls separated her from the other competitor's bay areas, but the front was still open. People (namely, other competitors and VIP fans) walking by could see who they were, and could freely ask for pictures and autographs. GoGo personally hoped she didn't get that kind of attention. She had no idea what kind of reputation Hiro had with Ronin, or Mega-Z… nor did she  _want_  to know. All the same, she still listened to the crowds walking by in hopes of catching any clues.

"Lazer Bolt is going to own the night!"

"I have bets on…"

The way a couple passer-bys looked in on her made her feel uncomfortable, however. She could only assume that no one recognized either of them. Hiro had said he changed up Ronin from before, name included.

"..probably a new one."

"Who's that girl..."

"..where's the bot with-"

"..you know, it was the one with the tall..."

What pissed GoGo off was the masquerade that the whole BBB spectacle had put on. After seeing the underground version of a gangster organized bot fight, this felt so staged. The formal attire and public staging did not fool her as it may have for the rest of the ignorant civilians.

"Hey Gary, can you go out and check for the match lineup? I got this here," even though it was risky asking him to leave, she needed some time alone to talk to Hiro. Ronin should come online pretty quickly, but just in case.

GoGo pulled on her fingerless bike gloves as she waited for Ronin to come online and calibrate. The robot didn't need a controller, like an RC toy, but she just liked having the gloves on. They just put her more into the mindset for the competition. She also wanted to confirm one of Ronin power attacks. "Hiro, when there-"

Her sentence was abruptly off by a very unwelcoming voice behind her.

"Well, well… look at what the cat dragged in."

GoGo sighed, then turned around the face the haughty Fujita. They beat them on finding her first. She could tell who she was from the whiny, hard to forget voice. The shorter engineer  _really_  was not in the mood for this. "What do you want,  _bitch_?"

"Funny seeing you here, Short-Z. I thought street racing was more your thing," said the proud woman dressed in black leather pants, a silky ruffled white blouse, and a distressed dark purple, tailored leather jacket. Her hair was neatly put up in a loose bun. Kimiko crossed her arms while looking down on GoGo, because the heels she wore only made her taller.

"Could say the same for you-"

"And now you're filling in for your cutie super- _Zero_? Aww.. how sweet!" the tall bitch overly exaggerated her voice tone to sound super cutesy, complete with folded hands and a gushing smile. The Fujita acted like another fan to the random passerby, but what she was saying was on a whole different level.

"Tch… what do you want?" the speedster rolled her eyes, hand on hip. The way she spoke about Hiro indicated that she knew they also moonlighted as superheroes. And that GoGo was close to him. All that made GoGo's blood boil, but she wasn't going to let that be apparent just yet.

"Just to say 'hi'. Can't I do that?" she cooed, seemingly driving the proverbial stake in a little more.

 _And to fuckin' spy on my shit, yes._ GoGo set her jaw, and held her glare. She had to stay cool, calm. She was so on edge for being toyed with like this. The only thing holding her back was the plan they worked so hard to set forth.  _I'm saving it for the fight… just you wait, bitch!_

"I also wanted to say that  _you_  certainly are  _not_  going to get very far here," Kamiko winked, and then turned to confidently walk away.

Gogo swore a few choice words of what she who like to do to counter the Fujita's threat.

" _Language_ …" an almost teasing voice from her com warned her. Of course, Hiro overheard all of that.

"Well, call that a confirmation that they're here," GoGo huffed, turning in her spot to glance at Ronin. "Did you get something?"

The rest was an unspoken assumption that if they had 'something', then finding where the Fujita were with their bots would shorten the search. Even though Hiro said the search and rescue program was removed, Ronin still had an ID scanner and tracking program integrated as part of his battle bot coding. Like with Baymax, Hiro used the similar code that after a person had been scanned, he could track said person's location in the local vicinity with a compatible tracking software program.

The agent stepped up, also aware of what had happened, and listened in.

" _Ronin has her marked as an Fujita thru her identity scan… but I can't seem to lock in_ ," Hiro explained, an spike of confusion becoming more evident as he spoke. " _There- there's some kind of interference. The marker for her location blips just for a bare fraction of a second, then goes out for while. It's not long enough to see where she is..._ "

"Great…" GoGo sighed.

" _If they have Baymax… it's likely they figured out that scanning program, and found a way to block it_ ," Hiro concluded with a sigh.

GoGo curled up her lip in disgust and crossed her arms. They were being baited in the worse way.

The agent looked to her shaking his head. "Continue with the original," he just said. That meant putting their hopes back on Wasabi and Fred in that they would find them, or at worse, GoGo would land a match against Baymax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's another short one, I apologize! I will admit that so many plot devices in the new BH6 Series sounded similar to what I had first thought of for this. That makes for a bit of a writers block in trying to think of something else now. I'll try my best to not be as predictable!
> 
> Next up, the BBB matches! ;D

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for how this chapter went down. I really do! It does get better as the story progresses, I promise!
> 
> Alas, Fred and Hiro, if left alone together for too long sometimes is not a good thing, me thinks. (The first part of the farting bit was taken from an actual child's book, I kid you not.) For some reason, they make me think of Bill n Ted, or Timon & Pumba. Almost. ^^;
> 
> (Chapter also had been edited for family friendliness after the reboot)


End file.
